Dragon Ball Z: Life After Cell
by MostlyEatDeath
Summary: Slight AU: Begining a few years after Cell's defeat. Follow Gohan as he adjusts to life in school as he makes friends and comes to grips with his father's death. No Buu. No Saiyaman.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I don't own DBZ or anything of worth.**

Chapter 1

Autumn: It means leaves changing, cooler temperatures and shorter days. To one group of people though, it means the beginning of something entirely different: School.

A young man lay in bed which was neatly made under him, already fully dressed for his first day of school. He glanced at the clock already aware that he had been up for hours, anxiety making sleep elusive. Today would be his first day of school. Not just of the year, but of his life. He would be joining the ranks at Satan City High as a freshman.

He, had spent a lot of his time studying and learning since the day he was born. He had absorbed things beyond what was normal for a fifteen year old. This, however, would be different. He was going to have to interact with people his own age. He would be going to a place he wasn't familiar with and would have to do so alone. Not only that, but would have to do it while suppressing what he could do and who he really was. He wouldn't be able to reveal much about himself, only very superficial things.

It was his mother's idea. She wanted him to go to school for two reasons. First, she wanted him to get a high school diploma from one of the most prestigious public schools on the planet. Second, she wanted him to make some friends who were his own age and who weren't a part of, as she calls it, a "gang".

He was excited by the prospect of going to school, but confused. If he met anyone at school he might actually want to be friends with, they could never be anything more than an acquaintance to him. Because his mother didn't want him to reveal certain things about himself, those he met could never actually know the real him. As a result, he would never really have any true friends except the "gang".

He heard his mother in the kitchen preparing breakfast, happily humming to herself. She assumed she was helping her son out greatly by sending him to school. He wasn't going to tell her otherwise. He knew his mother had her heart set on it and she thought it would be in his best interests. There was no need for her to know about the frustration she was putting him through. Instead, he would grin and bear it as best as he could. He was going to do his best to make the most of this experience.

He jumped out of bed and put a smile on. _'I might as well put up the facade now,'_ he thought to himself as he opened his bedroom door _._ He was instantly hit with the smell of breakfast which was permeating the house. His smile became genuine in an instant. The food his mother cooked was better than anything he had ever had anywhere else. Of course, she also got more practice than any one person he had ever heard of.

The enormous amount of cooking she did started with his father, who in a single meal would eat what 1 or 2 people would eat in an entire week. He and his brother were no different from their father. It didn't make things easy on his mother, but she was happy to care for those she considered hers. If she were to turn her talents on the professional world, she could single handedly run a five-star restaurant.

He sat down at the breakfast table and inhaled deeply. His mother walked over to him with her hands full of dishes, placed them down in front of him and kissed the top of his head. "Good morning sweetheart. Ready for the first day of the rest of your life?"

His smile faltered somewhat before he could recover. He just needed to remind himself of his breakfast in order to make sure the smile stayed on his face and was backed by real emotion. He feigned enthusiasm and said,"Just try and keep me from it!"

He dove into his breakfast at a feverish pace. All anxiety put out of his mind in an instant. His mother waited for him to finished and then said, "Before you go, please wake up your brother, OK Gohan? I won't get a second of peace if he doesn't get to say goodbye to you before you leave. And don't come home after school either. We are going to be having dinner at Bulma's tonight. Bulma wants to hear all about school when you get done so we are going to head there when Goten is done with his school work."

Gohan sighed and got up. He knew what it meant to be stuck at home alone with his mom all day and the amount of studying it would mean for Goten. He was beginning to wonder who had the worse deal.

* * *

The young man wasn't the only one facing anxiety at the prospect of the start of the school year. In a mansion over 500 miles away, a young woman was just beginning to rouse herself. From the moment her alarm went off, she knew that today was going to be rough. She had been up late the night before helping the police with a bank robbery. Why they couldn't take care of one crime on their own was beyond her.

She got up, ran through her morning ablutions and then headed downstairs for breakfast. She was grateful her dad wasn't up yet. She wasn't in the mood to hear his "No Dating Anyone Unless They Are Stronger Than Me" speech. Despite the fact that she had it memorized and she had no interest in dating anyone, he insisted on give it to her every year. He would even give her refresher speeches at random points throughout the year, just to make sure she got the point.

She decided to move quickly. She didn't want to press her luck. She had managed to get ready, eat, then crack an energy drink without waking him. She chugged the drink, crushed the can and bolted for the door. She knew she'd regret drinking it when she crashed halfway through the day, but she didn't care. Without it she wouldn't make it through the first class.

As she got in her jetcopter and took off, she got a text message. She looked down and noticed it was from her best friend Erasa. "VIDEL! Just hrd we r getting sum1 new this year." This was immediately followed by a second text, "A NEW BOY! :)"

Videl turned off her phone screen and accelerated. She was going to need to get to class quick and mentally prepare herself. _'Oh great! A new student at school. I am going to have to put up with thousands of questions about my dad. He is going ask me out and then I am going to have to go to the dean's office to explain why I knocked the new kid unconscious. I so don't need this on the first day of school.'_

As she landed she looked around and saw she was the first student to arrive. There were a few other administrators and teachers beginning to get there, but most everyone knew to leave her alone. She capsulized her jetcopter, put it in her pocket and walked inside. All students had been sent their class schedules, so she knew where to go for her homeroom. She walked in, took a seat where she always sat, put her hands on either side of her head and began to breathe. She just needed to get herself as calm as possible before the new Hercule Satan fanboy arrived.

Other students began to arrive and slowly filtered into the classroom. The entire student body had learned over the years to avoid Videl Satan. She impressed upon them it would be in their best interests to seek a relationship elsewhere. This was cemented when one of the jocks decided to try to entice Videl to date him by giving her some unwanted physical attention. The jock didn't walk normally for 6 months. When the boy's parents heard _what_ he had done and _who_ he had groped, they decided not to pursue a lawsuit or criminal charges. The last thing they needed was to have the strongest man in the world after them. Even if he didn't lay a finger on them, they would have been the biggest pariahs on the planet.

She sat there, alone, until her two best friends arrived. These were the only people who felt comfortable enough to allow sitting next to her. But even so, the seats around them were usually empty as well. She didn't notice either of them until Erasa put her bag down and, in a near unbearably bubbly way, said "Good morning blue eyes."

Videl looked to either side of herself and noticed Erasa and Sharpner getting themselves situated for their first class of the day. Erasa was looking happy to be back in her kingdom. She was queen at school; She knew everything that happened in its walls and controlled the pawns within it. Sharpner simply had a smirk on his face that Videl knew was meant to look debonair.

They were the "cool" kids, the untouchables as it were. Erasa: considered by most to be the most beautiful girl in school. Sharpner: captain of several school sports teams and self proclaimed ladies man. Finally Videl: the crime fighting daughter of the savior of the world. These were the three that everyone wanted to imitate, date, or be around at all times. The imagined gap in the social status, as well as fear of Videl, kept the other students from getting too close though. This suited the three of them just fine.

Because of the image they maintained, girls felt honored and deeply flattered if Sharpner asked them on dates. He took advantage of this fact as often as possible. And even though neither of them wanted it, Videl and Erasa could have had their pick of guys, single or not. As much as Erasa liked to flirt, she just didn't find anyone at the school interesting enough to want to get to know them further.

By this point the class was nearly full. It was so full that other students ended up sitting next to Sharpner. The only remaining seat in the class was next to Erasa at the end of the row. Anyone who had tried to take the seat, found themselves the target of Videl's glare and found another. The second bell rang signaling the start of the first school day.

The homeroom teacher was also their first period teacher. Mr. Lee didn't see much point in just having the students sit there for 10 minutes until the bell rang for his class to start, so he decided to start it early. He wrote his name on the board and introduced himself.

"Welcome to Orange Star High everybody. I trust you had a good summer and are all excited to start another school year. My name is Mr. Lee and I will be your homeroom and History professor."

Just then he was interrupted by a knock on the classroom door. One of the administrators came in with a note, which he took and read. He looked fairly impressed and then said, "OK. Thank you. You can send him in."

As Gohan entered the classroom there was a collective gasp from a large portion of the girls in attendance. Gohan walked apprehensively further into the room and stood near the professor holding his hand out to shake. Mr. Lee, again, had an impressed look on his face as he took the young man's hand.

He said, "Welcome! I was just introducing myself to the class. I am Mr. Lee. You must be Gohan Son, correct?"

"That's correct, sir. Pleased to meet you."

Mr. Lee turned to address the class, "Ladies and gentlemen," he used these terms loosely. "I want to introduce you to a new student who will be joining us this year. This young gentleman got perfect scores on all his entrance exams. I hope all of you will make him feel welcome. You could all pick up a thing or two from him."

While no one knows who said it, a call of "NERD!" sounded throughout the classroom. That was followed up by laughter which went on until Mr. Lee could restore order to the class.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?" The teacher said stepping back, giving Gohan the floor. Gohan immediately went bright red with embarrassment at being the center of attention.

"My name is Gohan Son. I have never been to a school before since I was home schooled up until now. Um…I live on Mount Paozu with my mother and younger brother…" Gohan paused, unsure of what else to say. He reached up and began rubbing the back of his neck in obvious discomfort.

The teach decided to end this bit of apparent torture. "That'll be enough Mr. Son. Why don't you find a seat? It'll be yours for the rest of the year. Also, because you are new here, I am going to give you a few minutes to get acclimated and for you to introduce yourself to those you'll be sitting next to during the school year."

Before Gohan could even begin to scan the rows for an empty chair, a blonde girl jumped up and said, "Hey, new guy! There's an empty one next to me!"

"Thanks!" Gohan said as he swiftly moved towards the spot, his face flaring up with blush once more.

Erasa had noticed Videl had been staring at the new kid since he walked into the classroom. After inviting Gohan up and while waiting on him to take his seat, Erasa leaned over to Videl and whispered, "The new guy is so hot. What do you think Videl?"

Videl could hear the suggestive tone when Erasa asked her that. She wasn't oblivious to what Erasa was trying to get out of her. It was true that from the moment he walked through the doorway, Videl's brain went nearly blank. There was also a small part of her that could have sworn she recognized him from somewhere and another, bigger, part of her that was screaming at her to try and make herself look presentable. She suppressed that second ridiculous thought though.

Instead of responding with what she actually thought, Videl just scoffed at her best friend before saying, "Why does it matter? I know exactly how this is going to play out. In a few seconds you will introduce the three of us to him. Then you will tell him who my dad is, if genius boy doesn't figure it out from my name. Then he will be just like the rest of them, sputtering and begging for an autograph or for a date. Then, FINALLY, we can ignore him just like we do everyone else."

The ridiculous side of Videl was telling her that she would never be able to entirely ignore this boy. Erasa just shook her head at her friend's stubbornness. From behind her, Erasa could hear Gohan taking his seat, so she quickly turned to him as she said, "Thanks again. I felt like I had already been standing up there for the longest time and really didn't want to have to spend more time looking for an empty seat."

"No problem cutie. By the way my name is Erasa Collins, that is Sharpner Smith and _this_ is Videl Satan," she said pointing at her friends in turn. The trio looked at Gohan anticipating a reaction to Videl's name.

"Pleased to meet you Erasa, Sharpner and Videl." Both Erasa and Videl got tiny shivers running up their spines from the way he smiled while saying their names.

"So Gohan, do you know who Videl's dad is?" Erasa continued slyly.

"No," he said honestly tilting his head inquisitively. "Is he famous or something?"

She moved closer to Gohan and batting her eyes at him said, "Why none other than _the_ Hercule Satan."

Videl listened to this, looking straight forward, and thought, ' _I knew this is how it was going to go down! OK. Now he knows, so I will be getting peppered with questions from him in 3…2…'_

"Oh." Was Gohan's only response. He felt embarrassed. Obviously, this was someone he should know about. He should have familiarized himself with the most popular musicians and actors to fit in a little better. His three new acquaintances looked at him wondering when the questioning and fawning would start. But it never did.

"You do know who he is right?" asked Sharpner.

"No. I'm sorry." Gohan had barely spoken 10 words to them and they were already looking at him like he was a freak. _'Maybe mom is wrong. I don't even know how to interact with these people. I can't be myself with them. I should have just told her 'no' and stayed home,'_ he thought as his anxiety started to turn into a bit of depression and his face burned with embarrassment.

"He is only the one who beat Cell and saved the whole world!", Erasa chided. Videl, meanwhile, began to watch him more intensely. She hardened her glare and tried to stare into his very soul. She wanted to make sure this kid wasn't just playing some kind of prank. The only thing she could see was that he looked incredibly confused. She decided to help him out a little bit.

"You know, Cell? Green guy? Destroyed cities and the entire royal military? Is this ringing any bells for you?", Videl said trying to get his memory working.

"No, I remember Cell vividly." Up until this point Gohan's mood had appeared happy and friendly. When he was forced to think about Cell, his voice began to take on more of an edge and his face darkened. This was not something he had been wanting to think about on the first day of school. The change went unnoticed by all but Videl who intensified her glare at him.

So Erasa followed his statement up with, "Well her dad is the one who beat him."

A smile appeared on Gohan's face and he chuckled lightly not sure what kind of a prank they were pulling on him.

Videl's blood instantly started to boil. As ridiculous as she felt her dad was sometimes, he was her dad and she would not tolerate someone mocking him."Is there something funny about my dad?"

Gohan stopped immediately and shook his head, waving his arms vehemently. "No of course not! I didn't mean anything by it."

At this point Gohan decided it would best if he occupied himself with something else. He turned back towards the front of the room and started to dig through his backpack for supplies. He didn't feel like talking about Cell or the man they though killed him any longer. He was feeling more and more like a freak and an outcast for not knowing what they were talking about.

Videl, Erasa and Sharpner all stared in disbelief. Despite what seemed to be him acknowledging Hercules defeat of Cell, Videl got the idea that, not only did Gohan _still_ not know who her dad is, but he also didn't believe what they were saying about the greatest victory in human history.

 _That didn't go how I thought it would at all. Who is this guy? Where has he been for the last few years that he doesn't know who my dad is? Something doesn't seem right with him._

Before any of them could say anything more though, the bell rang, signaling the end of homeroom and the start of the first class of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The teacher began the class by putting stacks of text books on each of the desks in the front row and asking them all to take one and pass the rest back. Gohan accepted his and passed the last one to the student behind him. He was careful to avoid making eye contact with the three next to him. He didn't want to say anything else that might not be considered normal or that might reveal things about his past.

Gohan attempted to listen to the lesson for the day. He was excited to find out what it would be like to learn in a classroom environment, rather than at his desk in his room with his mother checking on him every 30 minutes. Once the teacher announced the year's syllabus though, Gohan quickly realized they would not be going over anything he didn't already know.

With nothing of interest to distract him, he began to think about the interaction he had had with the three next to him. He was still aware of everything the teacher was saying, but he was able to put it off and think. _'_ _Who was this Hercule guy they are talking about? Was this just some kind of joke they were playing on me since I'm new? Could it be possible that someone is actually walking around taking credit for something that_ I _did? Of course no one knows I did it…If this guy told everyone he killed Cell, no one would know any better except those of us that were actually there and our families._

 _'There is really no way I can set them straight either. The only way to do that is to reveal who I really am to them and reveal Videl's dad to be a liar.'_

As the professor droned on they turned in their books to the fourth page. Gohan was instantly greeted by the image of a large man with a dark afro and mustache. The caption read "Hercule Satan after winning the 24th World Martial Arts Tournament." Gohan felt like he had met him before, but just couldn't place it. Then he was hit by an idea. He wouldn't necessarily lie to them, but that didn't mean he had to give them information they weren't entitled to.

Two seats over, Videl was lost in thoughts of her own. _'_ _Did this kid really not know about my dad and how he beat Cell? He said he could remember Cell. If he knew about Cell, then he should know about my dad beating him. But when we asked him about it, he looked really confused. It was like he thought we were wrong and that he was the one in the know. Who does this kid think he is? What could he possibly be hiding? I know something going on here, but WHAT? I've got to figure this kid out before I end up putting my first through his face out of frustration…'_ Her thought process was interrupted by the blonde next to her.

"Whatcha staring at Videl?" She said raising her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

"Absolutely nothing!" She said with a glare aimed at Gohan. She quickly turned her head back towards the front and pretended to be listening. She couldn't keep herself from thinking about Gohan or from shooting the occasional glance over to him.

When the bell finally did ring, Gohan stood and quickly looked at the trio next to him.

"I'm sorry about earlier. It was still pretty early and I wasn't completely awake. I didn't get the best sleep last night, so it wasn't until halfway through the lesson I realized who you guys were talking about." He laughed shyly and reached up to rub the back of his neck.

"Oh no problem cutie. I didn't think there was anyone left in the world who didn't know about Videl's dad." said Erasa.

"Whatever," mumbled as she glared at him.

"Come on girls. I'm starving. Let's get to our table," was all Sharpner could think to say. He wanted to end this focus on the new kid but didn't want the nerd to think he was invited to sit with them at lunch.

Videl could only suspiciously watch Gohan's face for some sign that he was lying to them. He seemed as though he was being honest, but he was still hiding something. Gohan continued to pack up as the three of them left the class and headed to lunch. When they rounded a corner Erasa instantly started in on her best friend.

"So Videl. Did you see anything in there that caught your attention?"

"No Erasa."

"You looked pretty interested in Gohan to me and I can't blame you. He is a definite hottie!"

"Whatever. It has nothing to do with that. I don't trust that guy at all!"

"What do you mean? He seemed pretty nice to me."

"There is just something off about him. It looked like he was telling the truth when he said he was tired, but I feel like he was covering up about something else. Like he thought he knew something we didn't!"

Sharpner jumped into the conversation. He didn't like that they hadn't paid any attention to him. "The guy's a nerd Videl. He probably always has that look on his face."

"What are you guys talking about? He's a nice guy! He's just nervous about being new here. Don't be such a downer all the time!" Erasa said in Gohan's defense. She was a little annoyed by their attitudes towards someone who was so polite and obviously uncomfortable. She glanced back to make sure he wasn't within ear shot.

(Editing Stop)

Gohan, meanwhile, had finished packing up and was heading towards the lunch area to find a place to eat. He noticed that just outside of the lunch room there was a grassy area with a couple trees. A quick pang of home sickness hit him but he recovered and decided to toughen up.

Since he didn't know anyone really yet, except for the three he had been sitting next to during class, he decided to sit in the small patch of nature alone. He had gotten the feeling that Sharpner and Videl didn't want him sitting with them and he didn't want to impose regardless. He thought it would be best if no one saw him eating just yet anyway. That certainly wouldn't help him fit in.

He sat down and dug in, finishing the mound of food he had stored in a capsule within minutes. The taste of home comforting him somewhat. After putting the remnants of his lunch back in the capsule, he closed his eyes and decided that he would calm himself for the afternoon ahead by meditating.

Videl, Sharpner and Erasa came out of the lunch line, Erasa still showing her annoyance with her friends. She knew that Videl had trust issues because of her past, but that wasn't an excuse. There was no way you could immediately trust anyone. Lately, it seemed like Videl was going out of her way to drive people away from herself. And, unfortunately, people were beginning to be driven away from Erasa too because of their friendship.

Erasa was even more annoyed with Sharpner though. Erasa had known him since they were little. She knew for a fact that the only reason Sharpner was behaving this way, was because he was an attention hog. He liked being the only man in their group. It made him feel like he was elite, like king of the high school. Just thinking about it made her even more frustrated.

Videl and Sharpner were walking just ahead of Erasa as they headed to their usual table. Erasa wasn't feeling her normal bubbly self after seeing her friends' harshness and selfishness. She moved to their usual table at a much slower pace, taking time to look around the cafeteria as she went. Just before she arrived to join her friends, she noticed Gohan sitting away from everyone else under a tree outside. He sat there cross legged, eyes tightly closed, apparently deep in thought.

Erasa put her tray down roughly, disrupting the martial arts conversation Sharpner and Videl were having. They both looked at her questioningly. Erasa often had these sorts of "pet projects" or causes that would temporarily rile her up, but she never really showed this much frustration with them.

Videl was the first to speak after a short silence. "What's up with you?"

"What do you mean 'what's up with you'? How can you two act as if you didn't do anything wrong?" Erasa said casting pointed glances at Gohan's lone figure.

"Erasa, the guy is a nerd. You did hear the teacher say he got perfect scores on his entrance exams, right? On top of which, as far as I can tell, it looks like the only "exercise" he gets is lifting books. We've got gym today and I'll bet you he gives the teacher a note getting him out of it. We can't have someone like that sitting with us. What are we even supposed to talk about with him anyway? How he knows Pi out to a million digits? How he wants to be a rocket scientist and work for Capsule Corp when he graduates? No thanks."

While Videl didn't share his reasoning, she agreed with the end result. "Seriously, Erasa. I don't want that guy over here either. He has said like 5 things to us and half of them have been lies. I'll bet he cheated on his tests and knew exactly who my dad was from the beginning. He's just trying to manipulate us. You know how I feel about liars."

"Well regardless of what you guys think; he doesn't look happy." She pointed out, gesturing towards him. "He is new, he's never been to school before at all and for all we know, he may NOT have remembered about your dad beating Cell. He doesn't live here, so it's not like he has reminders of that every day. After it happened, he probably never heard another word about it. All I know is, there is a new kid here who is super cute, nice, smart, modest and seems sincere, and you two haven't done anything but make him feel unwelcome! I mean, you are supposed to be a good guy, Videl. Standing up for others. Instead, you made a new kid feel like a criminal for not knowing about who your dad was."

Videl thought about what Erasa said. _'It's not like Erasa to throw my faults in my face. Erasa normally would let things slide.'_ But the more Videl thought about it, the more she realized Erasa was right. ' _This kid hasn't done anything except forget who my dad is. Sure he might have been hiding something, but he's new. He didn't know us anymore than we knew him. Why would I think that he would just open up to three complete strangers and tell us everything about himself? He's entitled to some privacy just like the rest of us. There's things about myself that I've only ever shared with Erasa. Not even Sharpner knows about them.'_

She pulled herself out of her revelry, "You're right Erasa. It wasn't fair for us to treat him like that. I'm sorry."

"Well I'm not the one you should be saying sorry to."

' _Well that's not going to happen. But maybe I can start over and he will forget about it.'_ Videl thought, as she glanced over at the boy in question.

The three of them were able to eat in peace after that and enjoy some casual conversation. Erasa had only gotten a chicken salad, so she was done eating about 10 minutes after lunch began. With about 35 minutes until the bell rang, Erasa got up and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Sharpner asked quickly.

"To talk to Gohan."

Neither Videl or Sharpner felt like getting another tongue lashing, so they didn't say anything and just let her go.

Erasa got rid of her garbage and returned her tray, then happily bounced over to where Gohan was sitting. When she got close enough to him, she noticed his eyes were closed tightly. Not only that but his face was twitching slightly. It almost looked like he was in pain. When she was directly in front of him and about 5 feet away, she decided to try and get his attention and make sure he was OK.

"Um...Gohan? Are you OK?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Gohan had been unsuccessful in calming himself. Instead, the conversation about Cell brought back some painful memories. After reliving the battle, he began to war in his mind. Part of him hated himself for allowing his dad to die, part of him hated his dad for not coming back to his friends and family. But that made him hate himself even more though. _'How terrible of a son and how much of a disappointment must I have been for my dad to not even want to come back. I mean, yeah we had a lot of enemies over the years attack us, but not all were because of him. And we were always able to beat them. If anything, having him here pushed the rest of us to get stronger and kept us together as a group. The only way it makes any sense is if he was just so disappointed in his life here, that he just wanted to stay away. How couldn't he hate his life when he has to put up with a son who was so cocky he let him die..."_

"Gohan can you hear me?"

Gohan jumped slightly as a hand was placed on his shoulder and he glanced up to see a set of very pretty green eyes staring down at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I was just kind of out of it. Sorry again Erasa."

She was kind of shocked that he remembered her name. Her name hadn't been said since this morning, and she didn't answer questions during classes so he had only ever heard it when they were introduced.

"Don't worry about it Gohan. Are you OK? You looked like you were in pain just now."

"It's nothing. To be honest, I shouldn't have even been thinking about it anyway. So what's up?" He said changing the subject.

She decided she would let it go. If he wanted to talk to her about it, he would when he felt more comfortable. "Nothing really. I finished eating and saw you sitting over here. So I figured I'd come over to get to know you better. How are you liking school so far? Probably a little bit different than being homeschooled."

"It's been great so far." He said with as much fake enthusiasm as he could muster.

She sat down next to him, her legs crossed out in front of her and she leaned back on her elbows. "Really? I would have thought you'd hate it. I've always thought it would be kind of cool to be homeschooled. Do whatever you want most of the time and then just fly through your school work in a couple of months and coast to graduation."

Gohan laughed at her comment. "Well if that is what being homeschooled was like for me, I'd probably agree with you."

She liked the sound of his laugh. It was sweet and natural. It made her feel comfortable around him. "What do you mean?"

"Well my mom home schooled me. She was very…let's just say, involved. I studied for around 10 hours a day, spent three hours a day doing chores and my mom gave me about two hours a day for martial arts training which she let me use as my physical education. Not a lot of free time to do what I want in there." He finished it up with a chuckle.

"Holy crap! Did you at least get the weekends off?"

"Usually. She wants to make sure I interact with other people so I don't turn into a hermit when I get older." He laughed louder this time. "So on the weekends I go and visit friends and family."

"Oh that's cool. I didn't think there were a lot of people who live on Mount Paozu."

"There aren't. It's just us. My grandpa lives on Mount Frypan. The people I consider my second parents live in West City, my old training partner and his family live south of us on a small island, and my old martial arts teacher lives in the Land of Korin. We are all pretty spread out, but we visit each other whenever we can. Truthfully, other than my grandpa, Vegeta, Bulma and their son Trunks, I don't see any of them that often anymore though."

"Mount Frypan huh? I heard that place can be pretty scary since it's ruled by Ox King the Terrible."

"Oh no, grandpa's not a bad guy. He was only ever called that when mom was missing and his castle was on fire. After master Roshi was able to put it out and dad found mom, he calmed down. He's always worked hard to make the lives of the people in his kingdom better."

"WHAT? Your grandpa is the Ox King? That's crazy!" She paused processing that information. Then her eyes started to light up ever so slightly with a coy smile playing around her lips. "So does that make you a prince or something?"

"Hmmm…I guess so. We've never really talked about it. My mom, brother and I like living quiet lives. I mean, we've never hidden ourselves really. I guess I've never really thought about it at all. He was never really the 'Ox King' to me. He was just 'grandpa'."

Erasa smiled even bigger now. She remembered thinking that Gohan was just a modest and shy new kid, and it looks like she was right! _'I knew he was modest. What normal kid wouldn't walk into school and tell everyone that they were the Prince of the Kingdom of the Ox King.'_

"Well that's cool. I never thought about the Ox King having a family or anything. So Prince Gohan", she said flirtatiously, "other than your grandpa, who were the other people you said you hung out with? Anyone our age? Any girls?"

"Well Bulma is a girl but she's older than us." He said confused by her tone and questions.

"Bulma huh? Who's she? A girlfriend?"

"Bulma? Oh, she's my mom's best friend. Her son Trunks is my brother Goten's best friend. When we are with them I usually have to spend my time with her husband Vegeta, which of course means sparring most of the time."

"Why do those names sound familiar to me? Are they famous too?"

He shrugged. "If they are, I wouldn't know. I mean, I only just realized my grandpa is an actual king that other people know about." He said laughing.

Erasa laughed along with him. He really was a sincere, honest person. "What's their last name? Maybe that'll help me figure it out."

"Briefs."

Erasa sat bolt upright. "WHAT! Are you honestly telling me that, in addition to being a prince in the Ox Kingdom, you also spend your weekends with the beautiful, genius, billionaire owner and president of Capsule Corporation and her family?"

Afraid he had said something wrong since she kind of looked mad, Gohan looked around for something, anything that could help him know what to say. Coming up empty he replied uncertainly, "Ummm…yes."

"OH MY GOD! This is incredible! What are they like? What do they do for fun? Is her husband really as scary as he looks on TV and magazines? How did you meet them? Is it because your mom is the Ox Princess? How long have you known them? Please TELL ME!"

Erasa looked like she was going to explode if he didn't give her something. Gohan was incredibly shocked that the mundane nuances of Bulma's life would be that interesting to anyone. He didn't want to say more than he should. Vegeta would literally kill him if he said something he shouldn't. But he also didn't want to shoot down the only person who had bothered to talk to him all day. Everyone else was either openly rude to him, glared at him or ignored him entirely.

He shrugged his shoulders and decided he could tell her most of his connection to the Briefs without revealing anything he shouldn't. "Well, Bulma is one of the nicest people you will ever meet in your life. She is so supportive and fun and adventurous. You wouldn't know it to look at her now, but she went on a sort of treasure hunt all alone when she was our age. That is actually where she met my dad.

He was living alone at the time because my grandpa Gohan had been killed. He had something she was looking for. He wouldn't let it out of his sight and at the time he was already a skilled martial artist, so she asked him to tag along with her. They were best friends until he died a few years ago. Sometimes I get the feeling that she wishes she was the one who had married my dad." He said with an odd smile on his face. He was starting to relax around Erasa and was enjoying her company.

"Anyway," he continued "she and my mom became best friends after Bulma got married and my mom felt she didn't have to worry about her anymore."

"Wow. What about her husband?"

"Well, Vegeta is not the type of person you would expect to be with Bulma. But in actuality, they need each other. Bulma and Vegeta are both very tough, opinionated people. They keep each other in check. He isn't someone most people would want to mess with though. I remember one time, a group of 5 guys broke into the residential part of CC. We watched a video tape of it before we gave it to the police as evidence. Even though the people who broke in were professional mercenaries who had all seen combat for years, three of them wet themselves and fainted after seeing what Vegeta did to the first two. The other two, well they will unfortunately be spending the rest of their lives in a prison hospital on life support."

"He kind of sounds like a lunatic. How can you spend time around him?"

Gohan laughed hysterically at this. "Sometimes he can be. Mostly, he is just very protective of his family and proud to defend what is his. When you get to know him, you find out that he is a very good, loving person even though he would never admit it and would freak out, entirely overreacting, if you ever said it to him. After my dad died, he kind of stepped in and has helped to raise Goten and I though. So I see a side that not many others do."

"Wow." Then something clicked and she remembered that this was the second time he mentioned his dad had died. "So what happened to your dad, if you don't mind me asking?"

Gohan thought about it for a second. _'Uh oh. These people all think Videl's dad killed Cell. I can't tell her what happened without revealing him to be a liar. But…then again...a lot of people were killed by Cell. I don't really need to tell her the circumstances he died under. If I keep it general, it won't seem out of the ordinary.'_ "He was killed by Cell."

"Oh I'm so sorry Gohan." She put her hand on his shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly. She was very surprised that, not only was his arm, shoulder and back all as hard as a rock, but they were covered in thick bands of muscle you couldn't see in his overly large, loose fitting clothing. If they hadn't been talking about his dad dying, she might have turned the flirting up another notch.

Even so, she was confused by his dad being killed by Cell. "But he must have come back right? I remember hearing on the news that EVERYONE who Cell killed, came back to life. He must have been one of them right?"

Gohan shook his head. "Not him."

Erasa saw his eyes and face fill with the same pain she saw on his face earlier. She scooted closer to him and put her arm around him. After a minute she felt all of the muscle under the shirt and flushed slightly. Glancing over at him, she noticed he had recovered and was blushing brilliantly.

Before either of them could say anything else though, she noticed Videl and Sharpner walking over to them with inscrutable looks on their faces. Erasa blushed even more when she realized what it must have looked like to her two best friends. She got to her feet and held her hand out for Gohan.

Gohan for his part was a little thrown off by the rapid change in the atmosphere until he noticed Videl and Sharpner walking towards them. Even though he didn't need it, he accepted Erasa's offer to help him to his feet. She immediately noticed how strong, yet gentle, his grip was. On the other hand, he was focusing on how soft, smooth and fragile her hand felt in his.

"HEY!"

They froze, startled by the tone of Videl's shout. Neither realized they were still holding the others hand.

"Oh hey Videl! What are you guys up to?" Erasa attempted to sound nonchalant. It was difficult considering the intimacy of the conversation they were involved in as well as the hold she had Gohan in when Videl had walked up. She knew where Videl's mind would be going. _I can't really blame her. I'd be thinking the same thing if I were in her place._

"Well we got worried about you when you never came back to go to class with us. What have you been doing?" Sharpner said. His words were thick with implications.

Gohan decided to let Erasa do the talking. He didn't know either of these people and so far both of Erasa's friends had made it more than apparent that they weren't interested in being around him. His mind was also still stuck on the conversation he had been having with Erasa.

"Just getting to know Gohan here. He's a pretty cool guy." She didn't feel need to tell them what she learned. They'd have to talk to Gohan and learn that stuff on their own if they wanted to.

Gohan instantly flushed bright red and realized that his feet were suddenly very interesting. He reached up with his free hand and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Is that so? Well it looks like you have gotten a lot closer to him." Videl said pointedly, looking from her best friend's face, down to Erasa's and Gohan's conjoined hands.

Erasa realized only then that she was still holding Gohan's hand. She let go and tucked her short blonde hair behind her ear. She didn't want him to feel like it was a rejection though, so she gently squeezed his arm while smiling at him. As much as she was starting to like Gohan, she had no desire to give herself a reputation.

"So," Erasa said awkwardly, "I guess we need to get to class huh?"

"Yep. Gohan did you want to walk with us?" Videl added as an after-thought. Even though she didn't trust Gohan, even more so now, Erasa's criticism was still fresh in Videl's mind.

"Sure…" He felt it would have been rude to decline the offer, but wasn't sure if something was about to happen that would make him feel like a freak again.

Erasa looked at her best friend in surprise and silent thanks. She was so happy that she grabbed Videl's hand as she skipped towards their next class. Sharpner kept pace with them, not wanting to be forced to walk next to the nerd. Gohan walked just behind the three of them, lost in his own thoughts.

They all took their seats. Sharpner was throwing less than covert, angry looks at Gohan. Regardless of what Erasa said, Sharpner still felt like Gohan was trying to muscle in on what he felt was his territory.

Videl, for her part was looking back and forth between Erasa and Gohan. She had seen guys come and go. Some were only interested in Erasa for her looks, others just wanted to tap into her popularity. Then the most despicable of them all, were the ones who were using Erasa to get to Videl. After seeing Gohan holding Erasa's hand, Videl decided she didn't trust Gohan at all, but she would have to keep a closer eye on him now. That had the effect of forcing her to be nice to him so she didn't scare him off. If she scared him off, that would just upset Erasa.

The thing she didn't know though, was what was going on in Erasa's head. When Erasa first started getting attention from boys, she was very trusting of them. She easily fell in deep with guys who didn't care for her at all. Videl thought that Erasa was starting to understand that most people, especially boys, couldn't be trusted. This whole Gohan thing had her wondering if Erasa had learned anything at all.

Erasa could feel Videl's eyes moving back and forth between herself and Gohan and she knew what her friend was thinking. After 10 minutes of that, Erasa had finally had enough and she looked at Videl with her eyes wide. Videl at once knew that Erasa was telling her to stop staring at her and Gohan. They both looked back forward again and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Gohan on the other hand was looking down at his desk. He could hear everything the teacher was saying and it was stuff he already knew. As a result, his mind began to wander. The more he thought about it, the more he felt safe with what he had told Erasa. He was a little concerned that she was so fascinated by his relationship with Bulma and his relation to his grandpa. But after Erasa had brushed off Sharpner's and Videl's questions, he was sure she wouldn't make a big deal about it and spread it around the school.

The teacher chose this moment to test whether the new kid was listening. He felt sure that Gohan was in his own world since he was staring at the desk in front of him. Mr. Poulos looked at his book and then looked up at Gohan with a devious smile on his face.

"Mr. Son, would you be able to tell me what the three basic states of matter are and an example of a substance that goes through physical changes without changing chemically?"

"Yes, sir. Solid, liquid and gas are the three basic states of matter. An example would be ice changing to water. The chemical composition is still H20 so the change is only physical."

"That's correct Mr. Son." Mr. Poulos decided that new kid was just shy enough that he wouldn't even look up to make eye contact. He realized to, that the other teachers were correct, and Gohan was smart enough that he didn't belong in the 9th grade. Some of the other teachers had told him that Gohan should probably be taking college courses. Not that that could be inferred from his one answer, but so far he didn't disappoint.

The casual way he had been able to answer the question, despite the fact that he didn't appear to be paying attention, really piqued Videl's interest. Sure in the rest of their classes he had easily answered the questions he was asked. This time though he was fixated on his desk, obviously thinking about something else. _'How is that even possible? He didn't even need Mr. Poulos to repeat the question!'_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Finally, it came time go to gym class. This was one of only two times a day the students got to leave their seats. The school had a policy of having the teachers move and not the students. This cut down on any possibility of a student being late to classes, as well as cutting down on hallway traffic. So the students were practically running out of the class room.

Gohan and the rest of the male students filed into the locker room, where their names were written on masking tape, which was then stuck to lockers. Gohan found his and tried to change and stuff his clothes into his locker before anyone could see him. He locked his clothes up and quickly left the locker room. He ventured out into the gymnasium and tried to find a place where he could make himself less than noticeable. The day was nearing its end and having people stare at you and talk about you all day long had exhausted Gohan more than he thought it would. As polite as he had always been taught to be, he could tell that it wasn't going to take much more to make him angry.

The rest of the class filtered in, followed by the gym teacher. He was a large man. Someone who looked like many years ago they were fit and lifted heavy weights, but let themselves go. He called the students to attention and began his spiel.

"Welcome athletes. My name is Mr. Gibson; you can call me Coach though. We are going to start with a quick warm up before we get into our first unit of the year. So the faster you all get through this, the sooner we can start. I will be watching for proper form and any attempts at cheating yourself out of the warm up. If I see anything like that, you and those standing around you will have to do it all again. Now I want you all to do 25 push-ups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, squats, toe touches and 10 quad stretches, then run a lap around the track."

The class all took off to get started. Gohan just wanted to get it over with. He wanted the entire day to be over so he could go home. Suddenly, he remembered he wasn't going home. His mom asked him to meet him at Bulma's. Bulma was excited to hear about his day as much as his mother was. This was going to mean his night would be spent sparring with Vegeta or answering pointed questions about any girls he had met and what their wedding plans were.

As Gohan's mood descended, so did his control over his speed and power. Other students around him and eventually the teacher, all caught sight of Gohan powering through the entire warm up routine except the run in around 3 minutes. Coach Gibson came over to him.

"Whoa slow down Mr. Son. You don't want to wear yourself out before we actually start doing the day's activity."

Gohan realized quickly he was doing things much faster than the other students. "Yes sir. Sorry about that. I'm just anxious to get started today."

He took off to do his lap at a much slower pace.

Videl on the other hand noticed Gohan had already started his run. He was being watched by Mr. Gibson, so she knew he hadn't cheated. Not to be outdone, she picked up the pace. Before Gohan had made the first turn, she took off after him with Sharpner nipping at her heals. The two of them had always been considered the top athletes at the school and they weren't about to have the new guy take that away from them.

Because Gohan was going at such a slow pace, Videl and Sharpner caught up with him almost immediately. As Sharpner passed Gohan though, he reached out and slapped his back unnecessarily hard and told him pick up the pace, while calling him a nerd. While the strike barely registered with Gohan, he could tell that Sharpner had put as much as he could into it. That combined with being called nerd all day, pushed Gohan over the edge.

Gohan began to sprint at what he knew to be the fastest normal human pace possible. He figured at the speed he was going, he was traveling around 40mph. Sharpner felt Gohan breeze by him and looked at him dumbfounded. Gohan rapidly caught up to Videl as well. Videl could hear the foot steps behind her. She refused to be outdone, so she pushed herself into a sprint.

Despite her moving at her top speed, soon Gohan was next to her, slowly passing her. She risked looking over at him and noticed he wasn't even breathing hard and looked like he was just in a light jog. She had been pumping her legs for all they were worth and was starting to see spots from the exertion and she was having to ignore the sweat pouring down her face.

Gohan finished his lap and walked back over to his out of the way spot. Videl finished her lap and had to walk around with her hands on top of her head for a few seconds to keep from passing out. She noticed Gohan leaning up against the wall with his eyes closed, still not breathing any harder than normal and there didn't appear to be even a bit of sweat on him.

She walked over to him furious that he had beaten her. She needed to find out how he did it. But as she got closer, she noticed that his face was contorted in an odd mixture of anger and intense sadness. When she was within a few feet him, his eyes snapped open. His black eyes instantly captivated her blue eyes.

This was the first time she had looked into his eyes. She had never seen eyes like that. It almost looked like he had no iris at all. More than that though, she saw something in his eyes that she had seen many times before. She had worked with the police long enough to recognize the self-loathing in someone's eyes. It caused her to step back a couple of steps.

Gohan pulled himself together and the façade he had been working hard to keep in place all day was back up.

"Oh hey Videl. What's up?"

Videl watched him closely. She saw the mask go back up. She was a little bit alarmed that she couldn't tell he was wearing this mask all day. She can usually spot that type of thing. This kid was good at hiding his emotions. Not only that, but she instantly felt worse about her treatment of him. As poorly as her day had been going, it looked like Gohan's life, at least for a while, had been even worse. She decided to take Erasa's advice and be nice to Gohan, so she tried talking to him.

"Nothing. I just wanted to say I was surprised about how fast you are, is all."

"Oh thanks…"

"Is everything OK? You looked kind of…upset over here."

Gohan deeply sighed. He had had enough of everyone staring at him. This was the whole reason he didn't take credit when he beat Cell. He enjoyed his privacy. He liked living his quiet life. He didn't want to be under a microscope all day, every day. He was starting to think about quitting and just dealing with his mom's disappointment.

"It's nothing. Really. It has just been a long day."

He could tell from her look she wanted him to go on.

"I'm not used people watching everything I do or whispering about me. I'm especially not used to people openly talking about me and pointing at me."

Videl laughed at this and leaned up against the wall next to him. "Believe me you aren't alone there. Imagine being the daughter of the strongest man on the planet. I have people following me and watching me all day every day. If I wear a dark color, there are news stories about me being depressed or becoming Goth or Emo. If I wear a bright color, I have stories about how I am happily in a secret relationship. At least when you leave school people ignore you. And at least in another couple of weeks everyone will get used to you and stop staring and pointing. I am pretty sure I am in it for life."

Gohan looked at her in awe. Here he was complaining about one day of this, when she had to endure it every day. "So how do you deal with it?"

"Well, to be honest, I probably don't deal with it as well as I should. Which is why I sort of take a negative view of everyone I meet. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable this morning."

"It's OK. Don't worry about it. I'll just have to remember to steer clear of you until you are fully awake." He said with a slight smirk.

She smiled at him genuinely and winked at him before she continued on. "But the thing that helps me the most is helping others. I volunteer for the police. They call me in when they can't handle something on their own. I feel a lot better about my life when I am able to save another person or able to stop someone from hurting others. Plus, I get to let out a lot of the aggression I build up on some bad guys. Most of them don't think much of me because of my size. I mean honestly I'm 5'4", 110lbs and have bright blue eyes. Not exactly the most intimidating sight to your average criminal. But that just means they let me get close enough to wale on them." She laughed about her most recent memories of this happening.

"The police call you for help?"

"Yep."

"But what if you were shot, or killed?"

"Don't worry about it. I know how to take care of myself." She was a little miffed by Gohan's lack of faith in her ability to not get hurt.

Just then the teacher blew his whistle and called the class to attention. "Gather around me. If you didn't get a chance to finish the warm up, don't worry about it. There will be other chances for you every day for the rest of the year since that is how we will be warming up from now on. For now, though, we are going to start the first game of the year, baseball. Everyone line up by height and count off by ones and twos."

They did so and separated into the groups.

"OK Ones in the outfield, twos are up to back first."

Videl looked around and noticed that Erasa and Gohan were both put on her team with the rest of the twos and Sharpner was put with the ones. _'It's probably for the best. I don't want to have to listen to him complaining about being put on "Nerdboy's" team.'_ She thought as they all took their places. _'He is fast though. Maybe he's more athletic than he looks.'_ She watched as Erasa made her way over to Gohan, who was sitting on the bench, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed again.

"Wow Gohan you are really fast!" Erasa said bouncing over to him.

"Thanks Erasa. I appreciate it." He put a big smile on for her. Between her and Videl, they had somewhat improved his sour mood.

"So do you know how to play baseball?"

"Of course. Actually a friend of mine plays in the major leagues. He taught us all how to play and we sometimes go to see his games."

"Oh really? Anyone I would know?"

"Maybe, his name is Yamcha."

Erasa and several people around her all stopped and their mouths dropped. Gohan didn't realize what was happening.

"What's wrong? Have you guys heard of him?"

"Of course we have! He is the best player in the world right now! Actually, he is the best player EVER!" said jock sitting next to Erasa.

"Oh. Well anyway, he was the one who taught me how to play. He's a good guy." Gohan said obviously embarrassed. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck out of habit.

Meanwhile, Videl, who hadn't heard the conversation, was captaining her team and had gotten the bases loaded with only one out. She decided to see what Gohan could do and put him up to bat. She figured if he struck out, she could at least bat a couple runs in before Sharpner's team came up to bat. "Hey Gohan! You're up!"

Gohan looked to where he was being called from and trotted over. He grabbed a bat on his way and stepped up to the batter's box.

Sharpner was pitching and decided it was time he put Gohan in his place. Gohan was about to either duck like a sissy and be laughed at, or he would get hit and take that as a warning to stay away from his girls. He wound up and threw the ball with everything he had straight at Gohan's head. What he didn't expect was for Gohan to quickly and easily dodge the ball.

Gohan simply moved his head backwards slightly. He looked over at the radar gun and noticed the ball had been traveling at 110 mph. If he had been normal and hadn't dodged it, that could have cracked his skull. All the good Erasa and Videl had done to improve his mood was ruined in that instant.

"Watch it Sharpner! You could have taken his head off!" Coach Gibson yelled at him.

"What's your problem Sharpner?! Whatever it is, I can come fix it for you if you want?" Videl said in a voice that left no doubt that she would attack him without a second thought.

Sharpner decided to just pitch normal after that. He still wasn't going to let Nerdboy get a hit off of him though. He wound up again and threw with all his might. A perfect fast ball, right down the middle. However, before the ball could land in the waiting catcher's mitt, the bat connected with it.

Sharpner watched in shock as the ball he had just thrown, nearly disappeared along with the bat that hit it. The bat exploded into dozens of small pieces. The only part of the ball that still had a ball shape was the round cork center, which flew past the bleachers. The leather, cotton and rubber of the ball were strewn all over the infield.

There were a few seconds of silence from both teams. Sure they had seen people break bats before. They had even seen people break baseballs before. None of them had ever seen that level of destruction brought to both the bat and ball at once. The only thing that was left of the bat was the piece that Gohan was holding and had just thrown aside as he got ready to run around the bases.

"Shouldn't everyone be running? I am pretty sure that was a grand slam right?" Gohan said this was a slightly smug smile directed at Sharpner.

Videl snapped out of it quickly at the sound of his voice. "What's everyone doing? GO!"

It took a second, but everyone finally decided enough was enough and started to circle the bases, Gohan bringing in the final run. When he arrived Videl reached up and gave him a high five and then punched him lightly on his arm. _'That's weird, is he wearing shoulder pads? That felt too hard to just be an arm.'_ "Good job Gohan."

After Videl was able to get a double, Erasa struck out followed by one of the jocks. With that, the teams switched it up and Videl's team took the field.

As tough and confident as Sharpner may have been, he was also a show off and couldn't allow anyone to go before him. Now that he had a large wooden bat in his hands, he felt more comfortable. Videl was pitching for the twos. Videl wasn't nearly as good as Sharpner at it, but she couldn't entrust it to anyone else.

After getting two strikes, Sharpner was finally able to connect with one. He watched as it sailed well into the outfield. He started trotting towards first base, only to stop when he saw it land perfectly in a gloved hand. Gohan had jumped 35 feet straight up and caught the ball just before it hit the scoreboard. He landed and threw it to Videl, skipping the relay man entirely. It went straight to her glove, but she made sure to catch it with the net part. There was no telling how badly that throw would have hurt if she let it land in her palm.

Videl's team quickly finished that inning between her throwing strikes and Gohan catching everything that made it into the outfield. The teacher decided to call it after that inning and sent everyone off to change. Gohan did his best to change as quickly as he could and bolted out. He had no desire, what so ever, to have to speak with Sharpner or any of the other jocks he had embarrassed today.

Since it was the end of the day, all he had to was get out of the door and get far enough away from the school so he could take off. Videl and Erasa were quicker though. Videl sped through changing so that she could get some answers out of Gohan. Erasa wanted to spend more time getting to know him. He seemed to know everyone who was anyone.

As Gohan rounded the corner where the main exit was, he had to skid to a stop so he didn't plow over the two women standing shoulder to shoulder in his way.

"Hey Gohan!/." They said in unison. Of course Erasa said it a lot more enthusiastically.

"Uhh hi!" Gohan said nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

"So Gohan, what are you up to tonight? Want to go to the mall with me?" Erasa said as bubbly as ever.

"Maybe some other time. I have to head out to West City tonight."

"Heading out to see the Briefs huh?"

Videl's eyes widened and she looked between Gohan and Erasa. Erasa's eyes also widened as she realized that Videl didn't know about that and it wasn't really her place to say anything about it.

"You know the Briefs? As in the owners of Capsule Corporation?" Videl stammered.

"Yeah. I didn't realize it was such a big deal honestly. Would either of you mind not saying anything to anyone please? If I had realized what a big deal it was that I knew them, I probably wouldn't have said anything to begin with. I don't need another reason for people to stare at me."

"How could you not realize it would be a big deal?"

"Well I never thought of them that way. They've always just been Bulma and her family to me."

"Don't worry Gohan, you can trust us. We won't say anything." Erasa chimed in.

Videl looked incredulously at her best friend before remember her conversation with Gohan earlier. She forced herself to relax.

"Yeah. Like I said, I understand you not wanting people goggling at you constantly." Videl affirmed, even though she still had the urge to goggle at him too right now. She had to admit it; he's insanely cute, smart, incredibly fast, based on his jumping and hitting ability he was incredibly strong, a genius and now she found out he was well connected too. _'I guess I don't need to worry about this guy only going after Erasa to get to me or for popularity. He doesn't seem to want the attention popularity brings, and since he knows the Briefs, he is better connected than I am. I still need to figure out more about him though. I know he is hiding something!'_

"Thanks girls. It's sort of a relief to have a couple of people here I can sort of trust and be more open with. Well I have a long way to go. I'd better get started. Have a good night!" He said as he started to walk away.

"Bye Gohan. Have a good night!" Erasa sang at him. She practically had hearts in her eyes.

"Later Gohan." Videl said and both girls watched as he walked outside.

"So what's going on with you two?" Videl instantly said to Erasa.

"What about you? I've never seen you actually say goodbye to anyone other than me! And I've been watching you all day. You have been ogling him since the minute he got here. Not that I blame you, he is a unbelievable hottie. Too bad he wears baggy clothes to class and gym…"

"Well as cute as he might be, he is still a nerd. I'm sure the only thing he's hiding is a pasty, scrawny body." Videl said with a small amount of blush coloring her cheeks.

"I wouldn't be too sure. He said he does two hours of martial arts training every day."

"What? When did you find out about that?"

"At lunch. He told me about what home schooling for him was like."

"What else did you guys talk about?" Not being able to stop the curiosity that crept into her voice.

"Curious huh? Finally taking an interest in a boy?"

"Of course not!" Videl stammered in defense.

"So you wouldn't care if someone else took an interest in him then huh?" Erasa's voice was strongly laced with implications.

"Why? Are you looking or did someone else say something?" Videl was just hoping that her very observant and closest friend couldn't hear the small amount of jealousy in her voice.

"Well _**I**_ haven't been on a date in a very long time and I overheard Angela saying SOMETHING about wanting 'go after the new kid'. But I suppose I could step aside if you told me you were interested in him…"

"Well I'm not! He can do whatever or whoever he wants!" Videl's face was beet red at this point.

"Glad to her it." Erasa said in her normal, bubbly voice.

They walked in silence for a few moments until Videl realized something. "Hey you never answered my first question though. What else did you guys talk about today?"

Erasa gave her friend a very brief knowing look that Videl didn't notice because she was determinedly avoiding looking at her friend so as to keep her face hidden somewhat.

"Since he said he could trust you, I suppose there wouldn't be any hard in telling you that our new friend is a bona fide prince!"

"WHAT!? Are you kidding me?"

"Nope!" They walked to Videl's house while Erasa relayed what she had learned about Gohan throughout the day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As Gohan flew home with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, the only thing he was sure about was that he wasn't sure how he felt about his day. In general, it had been a disaster. There are had a few bright spots spent with Erasa and Videl, though, that kept him from feeling the day was a complete waste of his time.

Erasa seemed like she was just a truly nice and decent person. No agendas. No lies. Just a good person and potential friend.

Videl on the other hand was harder to identify. She was definitely a good person. She spent her days helping whenever she could by volunteering for the police. Gohan knew with the credit that her dad had evidently stolen from him, she could basically do no wrong. Yet she insisted on spending her time and energy helping people anyway.

Still, her first reaction to Gohan had been at best suspicious and at worst, openly hostile. Even now that she had warmed up to him somewhat, he could still see the suspicion and could tell she had an ulterior motive occasionally when she spoke to him or looked at him. There were only a few times when he could tell she had let her guard down and was being genuine with him.

He landed inside of the Capsule Corp perimeter walls and walked into the main building that led to all other areas. He could have flown straight to where he knew his mother and Bulma to be, but he was still trying to wrap his own head around his day before trying to explain and describe it to them.

As he walked into the main building, his thoughts were interrupted by the receptionist. She was another new girl and Gohan was sure the last had been scared off from her job by the constant explosions that sounded throughout the complex at all hours of the day and night. You never knew where they would be coming from either. Usually the residential section, where Gohan knew the GR was attached. But sometimes they would be coming from the labs.

When you aren't used to them, constantly explosions can wear on your nerves and make you feel like you are on a battlefield though. As a result, CC had an incredibly high turnover rate of lower level employees, especially of receptionists.

The new girl looked up at Gohan when he walked through the doors. She stared at him for a second and thought he looked a little like a tall, twenty-year-old version of her new boss's husband. But she also knew she was told not to let anyone through who didn't have authorization or an appointment. So as Gohan made straight for the door that she knew would lead to the residential section, she stood from her chair and quickly, but nervously, said, "Excuse me. Is there something I can help you with sir?"

Gohan raised his eyes to her and noticed she looked nervous. He quietly chuckled and walked over to her with a small smile on his face and his hand extended. "My name is Gohan Son. You must be the new receptionist."

"Yes sir. My name is Susan. Do you work here?" She politely said while taking his hand and shaking it. She was still trying to do her job while making sure to not offend someone she shouldn't. She had heard the man named Vegeta could be very volatile.

"Sort of. Bulma and Vegeta always have something for me to do around here." He wanted to help her out. He was used to doing this because of how frequently the receptionists changed. So he walked around her desk and came up behind her computer. "Please sit and I will show you something that should help you out."

She sat down uncertainly. He still didn't say why he was there, but he obviously seemed to know what he was doing and she wanted all the help she could get.

"Your manager should have shown you this when they were training you but click on the Internet Explorer icon and it will come up to the main Capsule Corp intranet page. On that page you will see this link that says 'Company Directory' which will show you a picture and the name of all CC employees. Another link down here will say 'About the Briefs'' and it will have a small directory with pictures of people who have permanent, unrestricted access. You'll find people like me under there." He said adding a wink.

She thanked him over and over for being so helpful and apologized for delaying him. He waved her off in good nature and went off into the residential section of the complex. He had temporarily forgotten that he was about to be interrogated about his day.

It wasn't until he walked into the family room and saw his mother and Bulma sitting around the coffee table chatting, with Vegeta leaning against the doorway with a smirk on his face, that he remembered this wouldn't just be a casual visit. He had information and they would be getting it out of him one way or another. His shoulders sagged a bit on the realization.

"GOHAN!" Bulma was the first of the women to notice him and she bolted over to give her favorite Saiyan a hug. True, she loved her husband and Trunks. But she always felt that he was her first son. She loved him from the first day she met him. On more than one occasion, she had even wished that she were his actual mother.

After letting him go she stepped back to look into his eyes. While Chichi always saw what she wanted in her oldest son, Bulma spent more time looking for what was actually there. She knew that Gohan was about to put the best spin on his day and she wanted to try to read him to get a feel for how his day actually went. All she could see, though, was confusion.

Bulma went back over to the couch pulling Gohan with her to sit down with her and Chichi. Chichi began the inquisition before he had fully sunk into the cushion.

"So how was your day Gohan?"

"It was great. I met some people and got along with all my teachers. I had some fun. It was great!"

Chichi was elated. This is exactly what she was hoping for. Bulma could tell there was more to it though; something that made him unsure about his day.

"Did you make any friends?" Bulma asked.

Gohan focused for a millisecond before putting his happy mask back on and Bulma could tell this was the part that had confused him the most. "Yeah, I think so. I spoke with a girl named Erasa throughout the day and spent my lunch talking to her too. I also spent some time talking to a girl named Videl."

"Girls huh? So do you think you'd like to marry either of these girls?" Chichi was instantly fixated on the idea of grandchildren.

Bulma knew this would be her only thought after hearing about Gohan making friends with girls and silently chastised him for not thinking about that before opening his mouth. She knew he was busy reviewing his day and had not been thinking about his mother's reaction.

"Mom. It's nothing like that. They are just really nice people. I feel like I can trust them. I almost feel like I can be myself with Erasa at least."

Ignoring him, Chichi continued her line of questioning. "So which one do you like? You know Gohan, you shouldn't be leading on two girls. I know you feel you are young and need to sow your wild oats, but I raised you better than that!"

"Mom! I am not dating and do not have feelings like that for either of them!"

"So what makes you think you can trust them Gohan?" Bulma jumped in changing gears to Chichi's annoyance.

"Well, it's actually sort of because of you." Gohan said looking Bulma.

"Me?"

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't think it would be a big deal that that I know you because you've always just been family to me. But when you came up in conversation, both Videl and Erasa seemed to think it was a huge deal. When I told them I didn't want to draw attention to myself though, they promised not to say anything. I believe them too."

"That's great Gohan! I'm so happy for you."

"Thanks Bulma." He said with a small smirk.

"So what's the problem hon?" Bulma insightfully asked.

"It's just that…I'm not sure about this."

"About what Gohan?" Chichi added feeling left out.

Gohan had forgotten about his mother's presence and put his mask back on while trying to think about what he could say to her.

"Nothing mom. I'm...just…not sure…if…this will give me enough time to get me ready for college!" He chuckled nervously. He had never been great at lying because he never did it. He felt he had to in situations like this where it would spare his mother's feelings. More than anything, he wanted to protect the people he loved; not only physically, but emotionally as well. His mom didn't need to know anything negative about school as far as he was concerned.

Bulma of course saw right through him and would get the information out of him when his mother wasn't around. However, she didn't know when the next time Gohan would be by to visit without his mother. _'I know Chichi wants him home right after school, so that means she will want to know why he's late if he comes here first. And if he tells her he's coming here, she'll just come over herself. Which will make it so he can't tell me what he's actually thinking anyway.'_ Then a thought struck her which would give her, not only more opportunities to find out the truth from Gohan, but allow them all to spend more time together.

"Chichi," Bulma started, turning to face her friend since she was sitting in the middle, "why don't the three of you come and stay here while Gohan is in school? While it's a lot farther away from Gohan's school, Goten would have someone to play with during the day now that Gohan is gone. The house wouldn't feel as empty during the day. You each already have your own room here. He'd be here to help me if I needed him in the lab. It wouldn't take him forever to get back and forth after working out with Vegeta. You would have more time to spend with Gohan because you wouldn't have to worry about cooking anything if you didn't want. You might even get a chance to relax for once. What do you think?"

While Chichi mulled it over for a second, Gohan looked appreciatively at Bulma. He knew he hadn't fooled her with his poor lie. She wanted the truth and with him there every day, they would be able to spend time talking without hurting his mother's feelings.

He looked at her and mouthed "Thank you!" and she gave him a wink. He always felt a bit ashamed when they would have these sorts of silent conversations together. He loved his mother very much. But these sorts of things are why he would occasionally feel that Bulma was more of a mother to him. His mom could be better compared to an incredibly strict au paire. He loved her too, but there was no way he could talk to her about everything the way he could Bulma.

"I don't know Bulma. Are you sure we won't be an imposition?"

"Of course I'm sure! We would all love to have you guys staying here! I'll get to spend more time with the three of you. Vegeta will get his workout buddy. And Trunks will get to spend more time with Gohan and Goten. He loves those two as if they were brothers to him anyway."

"Sounds great! Thank you so much Bulma. When would you like us to move in?"

"Well, is there any reason you even need to go home tonight? You all have clothes in your rooms already and I'm sure you turned everything off and locked up before you left the house this morning. We even have copies of all of Gohan's study books here. You could just stay here starting tonight if you wanted. I can send over some workers to take care of the place while you're here too."

Chichi dove at her and gave her a hug and Vegeta came out of the doorway to punch Gohan in the arm.

"Then it's settled. Kakarot's family will be staying here while the Brat is in school. Come Brat! We have listened to these women long enough. It's time for some training!" Vegeta said in a voice that bordered on happy.

"Not just yet Vegeta. Gohan needs to do his homework first." Chichi said while narrowing her eyes at him.

"Don't worry about that mom." He said hopping up to join Vegeta. "None of the teachers assigned us anything today. But I will make sure that homework always gets done before training with Vegeta or playing with the boys."

With that he ran out of the room after the older Saiyan. He had a lot of built up tension from his day he hadn't realized he was so eager to work off.

Chichi watched after him with a smile on her face. She was so happy he had turned out so well. She wasn't sure how he would grow up after all the horrible things he had been through, seen and done. She was even more worried after Goku died. But after a few months, Gohan had gotten back to himself from what she could see.

Bulma broke her out of her thoughts, "So what do you say we go tell Trunks and Goten!"

"I suppose we'll have to find them first, wont we? We should have kept Gohan around for this part."

The two mothers smiled widely at one another and went to the lab. It was the last place the kids should be, so it was the most likely place for them to be.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Videl and Erasa got into Videl's room just as Erasa finished telling her best friend what she had learned about Gohan. Videl on the other hand didn't tell Erasa what she had seen in Gohan's eyes during gym. She knew she wasn't supposed to have seen that in the first place and she didn't feel right telling anyone about it now.

"So not only does Gohan know the Briefs, but he is a Prince of the Ox Kingdom and knows Yamcha the Bandit personally? This kid is something else."

Videl sat there considering what he had told her and Erasa and was thinking about doing some confirmation on the internet.

Oblivious to Videl's thoughts, Erasa prattled on. "I know right! We are going to have to keep this stuff to ourselves so he isn't swamped by girls tomorrow! I mean other people over heard him talking about Yamcha, so that can't be helped. But I like the idea of us being the only ones who know stuff about him."

"What? Do you have your eye on him already?"

"Looks like I'm not the only one." Before Videl could protest, Erasa continued. "Don't worry Videl. I won't get in your way."

"You have got to be kidding me Erasa! First of all, no. Second, I'd like a guy who would be able to keep up with me and push my skills to new levels. I'm not going to get that with Gohan." The memory of gym class flashed in her head, but she pushed it back down. "And third, you know my dad's rule. As much as I don't intend to listen to that, it would be nice if my dad actually believed he could fight for me."

"Videl I told you. The guy said he had been doing two hours of martial arts training every day before he came here. And you can't tell me you weren't impressed by his gym performance. He is not as big of a nerd as he makes himself seem."

"Well that's another thing. Why would he _want_ to be seen as a nerd? Either he is a nerd and he isn't hiding anything or he isn't a nerd and he's hiding everything!"

"Not from us though." Erasa said in a sing song voice.

"This is just so crazy! He knows all these people and can do all this stuff. On top of that he trains in martial arts as much as I do! How can anyone be that amazing?"

"Amazing huh?" Erasa said with a wink. But before Videl could argue that point for the second time during the same conversation, Erasa started up again. "I agree Videl. It does seem pretty amazing that someone our age could do all this stuff and know all these people. But I'm sure he's not lying. It's pretty obvious when he is nervous and he didn't look that way once when he was talking to us about this stuff. Besides, if you don't believe him, at least some of that stuff can be checked on the internet. I, for one, am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and trust him."

There was silence for a moment while Videl thought about that before Erasa finally said, "I gotta head home. Dad is out of town and mom doesn't like me being out too late when he isn't home. I need to plan my outfit out for tomorrow anyway." She couldn't help but get one last jab in though so she added, "I wonder what Gohan would like the best on me."

Videl looked up to glare at her friend. Erasa knew Videl didn't like it when she was instantly consumed by a guy. But Videl also knew that Erasa loved to tease her.

"Just go home and get some sleep. I'm sure he will be there tomorrow to dazzle you some more and for you to try and dazzle."

Happy that her teasing found its mark, Erasa skipped off with a wide smile and called over her shoulder, "Goodnight Videl."

Videl called back with as much phony sweetness in her voice as she could muster, "Goodnight Erasa!"

She smiled genuinely as her friend went out of view down the hallway though. She shouted after her in a serious voice though, "Text me when you get home so I know you're OK!"

A faint chuckle was her acknowledgement. After she heard the front door close, her mind drifted back to Gohan Son. She felt that, while Erasa was naive to trust Gohan so quickly, she was right about one thing: Videl could always check parts of his story out on the internet. She didn't want her friend to get too involved with someone that could be a crazy, inbred, backwoods murderer for all they knew.

She walked over to her computer and shook the mouse to wake it up. She opened her browser and decided to start with his claim to being the crown prince of the Ox Kingdom. So she did a search for the Ox King. After finding a biographical page on him, she found a link to his children. There was only one listed and she was down as ChiChi Son. The biography on Mrs. Son showed that she was 35 years old, was married when she was 18 to a Goku Son and had two children. There were no names listed for them.

Videl read for a bit longer though. She noted that Mrs. Son had been an accomplished martial artist, even competing in the World Martial Arts Tournament. Apparently that is where she had gotten formally engaged to Goku Son and was married the next day.

She noticed that Mr. Son had his own page on the biography site. The very first thing she noticed was that next to his name it said "(Deceased)". Videl felt fairly guilty about this. If this was in fact Gohan's father, she was digging into his private family life and private pain for no reason other than to sate her curiosity.

She pressed on though. _'With how incredible his claims were, he has to realized that I would have had to check it out.'_ As she read through Mr. Son's page though something seemed kind of off. It almost looked like someone wrote it only to have someone else who didn't care about the flow, come in and cut a ton of stuff out. There was nothing much in there. The page mentioned his participation in three martial arts tournaments and how he did in them, but no detail at all that Videl could see. The page didn't even list what tournaments he was in or what years. _'That's pretty weird. As the former crown prince, there should have been a lot of information on him out there.'_

She decided that deserved some additional searching of its own. She typed his name in and came up with quite a few links to videos and web pages. Some were news articles; others were fan sites. She initially thought she had struck pay day, but each link she clicked on either had the web page removed entirely, or appeared to have been sanitized of nearly everything but the bare minimum.

After what she thought was a few minutes' worth of searching, she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

" _What_?" She nearly shouted, letting her frustration get the better of her.

In response she heard the timid voice of one of the maids say, "Ms. Videl, your father was wondering if you were planning on eating dinner tonight at all. It's already 8."

" _8_?!" She glanced at the clock on her computer to confirm the time. "Oh man. Umm yeah. I have to get some kind of a work out in though. Can you please have something put aside for me and I will eat it at around 9:30 after I exercise and cleanup for bed."

"Certainly. Anything else?"

"No that's all. Thanks!" Videl said as she ran around changing into some moisture wicking clothes for her late night work out. _'I won't get my full workout in, I will be eating crazy late and I didn't find out anything important really. The only thing I know for sure, is Gohan is hiding something. I'm positive of that now more than ever. Why else would all information about his family, if that's who that is, be so sanitized? At least we are kind of friends, so I can get more information out him without having to interrogate him…'_


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Gohan woke up the next morning in more pain and soreness then he felt he should have. Vegeta seemed pretty amped up with the idea of Gohan being around to train every day. Even though Gohan had won the match they had ended their workout in, Vegeta got in some pretty good hits and, Gohan was pretty sure, he'd be covered in bruises when he finally looked in the mirror.

He got up and got ready. He still hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Bulma since he had been working out with Vegeta for nearly four hours and only wanted to eat, shower and sleep when he was done.

He hadn't gotten out of bed with the same sense of foreboding that he did the day before, so he supposed that was something though. In fact, truth be told, he woke up mildly excited to go see his new friends. Erasa was so happy and full of life and Videl seemed to honestly understand him a somewhat.

He was ready and had eaten with plenty of time to get to school, even with the nearly four-thousand-mile distance to travel. He landed outside of the city, as close as he could to the school and decided to run in at fairly normal human speeds. He was nearly there when he heard gun fire. He moved quickly towards the noise and reached out with his senses.

He quickly realized that those who were shooting, were actually shooting at people, instead of into the air, when the kis of a few people he was sensing dropped even lower or disappeared altogether. The anger he felt made his hair and eye color change without conscience thought. He dropped his bag where he was and moved as quickly as he could to where he knew his targets to be.

People were running screaming or diving to the ground as a small four door sedan sped down the city street. The occupants had the windows down and were shooting indiscriminately at anything that moved. Even the driver was firing a gun out his window and not really paying attention to what was happening in front of him. He knew he was on the road and if he ran someone over, that was just all the better. Suddenly, and without warning, their vehicle came to an abrupt halt; the front end crumpling around something that was in the middle of the road.

Initially, the driver and front seat passenger were mostly protected by the airbags; only sustaining minor injuries and small fractures in none critical areas. Two of the passengers in the back seat weren't wearing seatbelts and slammed into the seats in front of them and felt numerous bones breaking through their body. This caused the front seats to be violently pushed forward, forcing those in the front seats to be pressed into the steering wheel and dashboard, respectively, resulting in numerous broken bones and injuries for those in the front.

The middle passenger wasn't so lucky. His body was thrown through the windshield only to be rapidly stopped by something and immediately dropped to the pavement with a sickening thud.

Gohan was that something. He had caught the person turned projectile and dropped him to keep the criminals in one easy to arrest cluster. He had caught him softly enough where the man didn't crush entirely against his hand, but hard enough where a few more bones broke in addition to those that broke flying through the windshield. He was alive, but wouldn't be threatening anyone else ever again, even if he were to make it out of a hospital bed in his lifetime.

Before the man could even hit the ground though, Gohan moved to deal with the others that, while injured, could still cause problems. He ran around the car to the open windows slamming his fist into each of the four other vehicle occupants as he went. He hit them hard enough to knock them unconscious but not hard enough to kill them. This took a lot of concentration, to hold back that much, especially in his infuriated state.

Gohan's work wasn't done yet though. As angry as he was with these five men and what they had done, the police would take it from here. In the meantime, there were several people around him that may either be saved, or brought back to life, just by getting them to a hospital.

Before he had even stopped swinging his fist from the last punch, Gohan moved instantly from the car to the furthest victim, carrying them from where they fell or had crawled to, to the hospital as fast as he could. He had to get those who had been injured and suffering the longest to safety and help. He continued this process, until finally the most recent victims were in the hospital.

On laying the last of them down, he noticed that the medical staff finally realized that bodies were appearing in open beds around the ER and were starting to take action to save or revive them. Satisfied that he had done all he could, he bolted to the spot where he dropped his bag reverting back into his base form.

All of this took place in just a few seconds. Those who had been in the vicinity, if they had been looking, would have only seen a flash of golden light appear in front of the car which crumpled around the light as if the light had been a bridge abutment and the car was made of tin foil. Then anyone watching would have seen that same light move in a blur; first around the totaled car, then to all the victims, which disappeared when the light reached them.

Gohan looked down at his watch and was satisfied that he still had plenty of time to get to school. The entire event, from the first gunshot he heard until he made it back to collect his bag, took around a minute. So he finished walking to school at a calm, relaxed pace. He had let himself get angry over what was happening and he knew that he shouldn't start his day angry.

As he walked on and he came into contact with more people, he noticed a few of them giving him odd looks. _'This is weird. It's one thing to have people looking at me in school since I'm new; but it doesn't make any sense out here. As far as they should be concerned, I'm just another random person.'_

He arrived at school and got even more looks and it was really starting to frustrate him. He sat down in his seat in homeroom, got out his notebook and a pencil and went back to trying to calm himself.

Erasa walked into class and scanned around to see who was there. She was in her information collection mode, trying to see if any of the new couples that had sprung up already arrived early to spend more time with each other. It was then that she noticed the new guy, Gohan. He seemed to be, if possible, even better looking today than he was yesterday. She stared at him as she walked up to her chair at his side. His face seemed to slowly go from deep concentration to calm serenity. She felt guilty disturbing that so she held her tongue for now.

When she got closer, she noticed that there was something odd about his clothes. Suddenly she realized what it was. "Gohan! Why do you have blood all over your shirt? Are you OK? What happened?"

Gohan jumped as a result of her interruption and took a second to process her words. He looked down and noticed that blood from what happened this morning was all over the button up he had on. "Oh…uhh…I don't know what happened. I'd better go clean up."

Before she could say anything else, Gohan jumped up and ran out of the room. He got to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. _'No wonder everyone was staring at me this morning!'_ He was covered in spots and splatters of blood from his face to his waist. Some he could tell sprayed on him when he stopped the fifth criminal that was in the middle seat after he ripped through the windshield of the car. Some was from the way he carried the victims as he rushed them to the hospital.

He pulled his button up off and decided to just throw it out. There was no way he would be getting that much blood out and he didn't want his mother to know about this anyway. He turned back to the mirror and washed his face, arms and hands. Looking down he was satisfied that his skin and the CC t-shirt, which was under his button up, were blood free, so he walked back to class. When he got there, he looked up to where he knew his seat was next to Erasa and noticed two more people next to her.

While Gohan had been in the bathroom, Videl and Sharpner had arrived. They sat down in their seats and noticed that Erasa had an odd look on her face. It almost seemed to be a mixture of concern, terror, shock and disgust. Sharpner piped up first since Videl was busy scanning the room for what could have caused her to look like that. "Everything alright Erasa? You look like you've seen the zombie of a friend or something."

"I think Gohan got hurt on his way to school today or something." She said in a nearly complete detached voice.

This caught Videl's attention and she snapped her head down to look at her friend. "What happened Erasa? Where is he? Is he OK?"

Before any of them could say another word, Gohan walked into the classroom and looked up at them. He had a stressed look on his face and was running his hands through his messy black hair. As he walked up to them, Videl looked him over for any sign that something bad had happened to him. He looked fine. In fact, he looked more than fine.

It was then that she noticed that today, he wasn't wearing a long sleeved, baggy shirt. Instead, he was wearing a simple green t-shirt with a small Capsule Corporation logo over the left side. The shirt was fitted to him fairly well. It was the right size for him, but as far as she could tell, his chest and arms were big enough that they would stretch over anything that wasn't two or three sizes too big.

It was then that Erasa seemed to snap out of whatever she had been thinking about before. "Holy _crap_ Gohan!"

This got the rest of the students' attention as well. Gohan, thinking he had missed a spot of blood somewhere froze. He was nearly at his seat now and he started looking himself over as best he could. Trying to be as quiet as possible in the room of people now silently staring at him, he said "What's the matter Erasa? Did I miss something?"

"Nerdboy, are you wearing a body suit?" was all Sharpner could think to say.

It was then that Gohan realized the problem. When he had taken his button up off, he did so out of practicality. He couldn't very well go walking around the school in a blood covered shirt. Now the fact that he was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans made him feel suddenly naked. It was like having forgotten to brush your teeth after leaving the house. Sure, hanging around the house with family and friends, it was no big deal. Elsewhere though, you felt like something was missing. Gohan's face instantly colored in such a deep dark red, those around him thought he might pass out.

Doing his best to make himself look smaller, Gohan replied in as even a tone as he could manage. "No. I'm sorry. I had another shirt, but I got stains on it and had to throw it out."

Everyone else went back to their own conversations and ignored the quartette at this point. "What are you apologizing for dude? You're huge! You should join the boxing…"

But Erasa cut him off remembered what it was that had caused him to throw his shirt out. "Gohan are you OK? You were covered in blood. Did you hurt yourself on your way to school?"

"Blood?" Videl questioned.

"Yeah his face and hands and shirt were covered in it! What happened Gohan?"

"Nothing. I...It…was…" Gohan was desperate for something to come and save him from this situation. He looked at each of the faces in front of him, who only stared back expectantly and with hostility in Videl's case. He tried to think of a way to explain but he wasn't sure he could think of anything. "You see…There were these shootings this morning…"

Something in Videl's brain clicked. "I got a call about that on my way to school this morning. Were you there? Did you see what happened?"

"Yes I saw it." He said defeated.

Erasa jumped in. "Oh my god Gohan! I'm so sorry you had to see that this morning. We shouldn't be interrogating you like this. Sit down. You don't have to tell us what happened. You already had to live through that once, you shouldn't have to again by telling us about it."

Gohan and Videl both looked at Erasa, but with very different looks. Gohan, thrilled that he wouldn't have to explain any more about the blood, looked at Erasa with the most thankful expression he could muster. Videl, on the other hand, was livid. _'He comes into school after a shooting in the city, covered in blood, and you tell him he doesn't have to talk about it!'_ But she too knew that she shouldn't force him to talk about it just yet.

She'd been around when soldiers and cops with PTSD broke down, it wasn't pretty. From what she heard from the dispatcher, the shooting Gohan had witnessed was one of the most gruesome scenes the city had been subject to in a long time. If Gohan had seen what had happened, she needed to let him get his mind around it first, before questioning.

Sharpner was a little less insightful though. So he kept pressuring Gohan for information. "Gohan's a tough guy, he can handle it." He said to Erasa. "Tell us what happened? A drive by or something?"

"Can it Sharpner! He shouldn't have to talk about it until he is ready." Remembering what she had learned about Gohan the day before, Videl decided she would rather not see what someone with Gohan's size and training could do in a class full of people. She was confident she could take him, but with everyone being so close, she was sure someone else would get hurt.

"Thanks guys. I appreciate it. It has been a long morning and I'm sure it will be a longer day than yesterday was."

"No problem cutie." Erasa said putting her arm around him giving him a side hug. She would have left her hand there longer to admire the perfectly formed, rock hard, burning hot arm under her hand, but at that moment the teacher called attention to the class.

Blushing, she turned back to the front of the classroom and settled herself in for a long boring morning. Out of the corner of her eye though, she noticed Videl looking at her with an emotion she instantly knew: Concern. There was no disguising it on Videl's part and not doubting what she saw on Erasa's part. Videl was very concerned for Erasa at that moment.

Erasa couldn't quite work out why Videl looked so concerned. Erasa decided that Videl must be concerned about Gohan. Last night, Erasa distinctly remembered Videl had said that she didn't care if Erasa went after Gohan. ' _It's odd that she would be showing this much concern for him.'_ She decided since Videl insisted that she wasn't interested in him, she might as well get closer to Gohan herself. _'If Videl realizes she likes him, I can step aside I suppose. If not, well, Gohan is a prince, he knows a lot of famous people, he's dreamy, strong and mysterious, he's smart and incredibly sweet; I could do a lot worse for myself.'_ She thought with a grin.

She was broken out of her reverie by the teach. "Ms. Collins. What is there to smile about over the Battle at the Mutaito Training Academy?"

"Nothing sir. Sorry."

With that the teacher went back to the day's lesson plan and Erasa spent more time thinking about the ancient Piccolo Wars and less time thinking about the embodiment of perfection sitting next to her.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

While Erasa was obviously doing her best to concentrate on the course material, Videl couldn't control her thoughts. Her mind was bouncing all over the place and she couldn't focus on any one thing for long enough to work anything out.

Her brain was still filled with her findings, or lack of findings, from the night before; as well as what Erasa had told her about Gohan and what he told her himself. Add to that the fact that Gohan showed up to school today covered in so much blood he had to throw his shirt out, was in fact incredibly muscular despite the fact that he presented himself as a nerd. Finally, there was the fact that Erasa had been so close to this person who may be mentally unstable and could snap at any moment.

She was so caught up in her thoughts and disoriented, she didn't even hear the bell ring. It wasn't until Erasa grabbed her chin and forced her to look into her green eyes, that Videl finally snapped out of it.

"What do you want Erasa?" Videl said while pulling her face out of Erasa's hand.

"You have been staring off into space for the entire class and it ended 5 minutes ago! We have been saying your name, tapping you, shaking you, waving our hands in your face, snapping our fingers in front of your face. We were just about to get a bottle of water to dump on you and then go for the nurse."

"Seriously, what was that all about?" Sharpner was showing so much concern for her that he didn't even make a vain attempted to hit on her.

"Sorry, I don't even know what was happening. So it's lunch huh? Let's get out of here and get something to eat." Videl said jumping up and walking towards the lunch room. She was trying to get them off of her distracted episode.

"Come on Videl. What were you thinking about?" Once Sharpner broke off to buy his lunch and Videl and Erasa were alone, Erasa added quietly, "Was it Gohan?"

"Seriously Erasa, stop that. Now. No I was not thinking about the new nerd." She said as angrily as possible, even as her eyes subconsciously scanned the area for him, finally finding him in the same spot as yesterday.

Erasa decided to let it go, but let her own eyes search for the muscled up prince. She spotted him under the tree in the same spot she sat with him yesterday. It looked like he actually brought a lunch today. She thought it might be nice to go talk to him again today. She did want to get closer to him after all. "Alright, well since you are in a _great_ mood. I'm going to go have lunch with Gohan. Did you want to come with me or do you want to sit here and pout?"

"Fine. I'll come with you." Despite herself, she did want to learn more about this new guy and find out if he was actually a threat. Maybe he was ready to talk about this morning by now too.

They grabbed their lunches they had brought and wandered over to where he was sitting. As they got closer they saw what was partially left of what would have been an epic meal. They rounded the tree just in time to see him finish off the last of it and they looked down at the wrappers, bags and bowls left over from it.

"Gohan did you eat all of this?" Videl said with a gasp.

A sheepish grin appeared over his face and he reached up and rubbed the back of his head and neck in a way they were already getting used to seeing. "Yeah. I've got a bit of an appetite."

"Do you eat like this every day?" Erasa asked with an amused tone.

"This is nothing, honestly. You guys should see when Vegeta, Trunks, Goten and I are all together. Bulma took a video of it once to show us how ridiculous we looked together." He said, laughing as he told them.

"That's the Briefs and your brother right?" Videl said with obvious curiosity.

"Yep. So what's up guys?"

"Nothing we were hoping to join you for lunch, but it looks like you've already eaten." Videl finished with a chuckle while seating herself across from him. Despite herself, she was starting to feel more comfortable around the new kid. He just gave off a calming, gentle vibe most of the time.

"I'd love for the two of you to join me!" Gohan was so surprised that they'd want to be around him after what happened this morning that he didn't think twice.

"Awesome! But don't even think about trying to steal my food." Erasa teased while taking out her lunch; thinking that since he just ate enough to last the day, food would be the last thing on his mind.

"Awww, but I can smell it from here and it smells so good!" Gohan pouted.

The girls laughed thinking he was just joking and despite being serious, Gohan laughed with them.

"So what did you do with your night last night Gohan?" Erasa said hoping to find out more about what he did when he went to Capsule Corp.

"I talked with Bulma and my mom, worked out with Vegeta, ate and then passed out. What about you two?"

"I went over Videl's for a while. Then home for dinner and to get ready for today."

Videl was absorbing what she was learning, quietly eating her lunch. It was then that she noticed Gohan's arms again. This time thought it wasn't the fact that they were huge and toned, it was the markings on them. It took her a second to realize, he had bruises that were fading and scars that were etched permanently into his skin all over them.

"Gohan what happened to your arms?"

He looked at them, expecting to see something he didn't see every day. "What do you mean Videl?"

"Well for one you have bruises all over them. And second they are covered in scars."

"Oh. Well the bruises are from last night. I told you I worked out with Vegeta. He gets pretty intense. The scars…they have built up over time. I don't even notice them anymore." _'Except the one on my shoulder…'_ He mentally added to himself and subconsciously rubbed his arm where the scar was.

'What kind of an insane life has this guy led that he has so many scars covering his body?' Videl though.

' _Poor Gohan.'_ Erasa inched closer to him until she was barely an inch between them.

That was when Sharpner spotted them and came over holding his lunch. He was sort of annoyed that he had to search for them. "Hey why'd you guys ditch me?"

"Oh sorry Sharpner. I wanted to come over and talk to Gohan and I guess we forgot that you had gone to get your lunch before we came over here." The apologetic look Erasa gave him was enough for him to forgive her, even if he did think her excuse was terrible.

Sharpner sat without being asked and without asking but nobody seemed to mind, least of all Gohan who would have liked to have at least have one male friend his age.

"It's fine. So anyway, what was Erasa talking about this morning with the blood Nerdboy? If you only saw it happen, how'd you get blood all over yourself?" Sharpner was unaware of the death glare Erasa was giving him and the odd mixture of annoyance and relief on Videl's face. Annoyance that Sharpner hadn't really said one nice thing to or about Gohan since meeting him and expected to get information from him and relief because she didn't have to try and get it out of him herself. She was happy to let Sharpner be the bad guy.

"Sharpner! Don't make Gohan talk about that!" Erasa was quick to defend her new friend.

"It's OK Erasa. I suppose I should tell you rather than let you guys think I was a part of it." Gohan had already thought about a way to phrase his explanation in a way that was vague but truthful. "It was some kind of a group of armed thugs driving down the street shooting people at random. There were already a few people who were hit when I stumbled on the scene and I had to help get people to the hospital. I guess when I was moving the victims, some of their blood must have gotten on me.

I didn't mean to scare you this morning Erasa. But thanks for pointing it out though. I walked from the scene to school and no one said anything until you did. I just got a lot of really weird looks."

Erasa reached over and rubbed his arm consolingly. "I'm sorry you had to see that. It must have been awful. I'm surprised you made it in at all."

"Don't worry about it. I've seen worse. I suppose I should be glad I was there though. Everyone else seemed too afraid to go and help. I only hope it was enough."

"I can find out for you from dispatch after school if you want." Videl offered.

"Thanks but no. I know I should concentrate on those I could save, but I would end up just fixating on those I couldn't. It's better if I don't know."

Videl nodded her head in understanding. She had been there before. She'd seen people die and, even though she had no way of saving them, she still blamed herself. She told herself that if only she had been a little bit faster or stronger or more aggressive, she might have been able to save them.

In that moment, she felt she was beginning to understand the pain she saw in his eyes the day before, and the glimpse she caught of it earlier when he mentioned having seen worse. _'If he really has seen worse than that, then I'm surprised he's as normal as he is. I've seen bad stuff, but I've always been able to talk to the department psychologist after this kind of thing. I wonder where he could have seen worse things though. It doesn't seem like he's dangerous at all. Just someone whose trying to help. Based on the scars and what I've learned about him so far, there has to be more to him than what he lets on.'_

She looked up and noticed Erasa and Sharpner had changed the subject and had moved on to brighter topics. She noticed that despite Sharpner continuing to call Gohan "Nerdboy", the two seemed to be getting along pretty well and Sharpner seemed to be trying to be friendly with him. Videl joined in the conversation and in spite of her reservations, she was beginning to simply feel content around the new boy.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Days turned into weeks and soon the first month of the school year passed by. The other students had stopped openly staring at Gohan. He spent most of his time with Erasa, Sharpner and Videl. They considered Gohan to be a new part of their group, but Videl made sure that everyone else knew nothing was changed by the new addition. She may have become friends with Gohan, but that still didn't make her want to spend any more time with the rest of the student body. As a result, despite his friendly demeanor, good looks and intelligence, most people stayed clear of Gohan as well.

There were a few people who seemed to resent the fact that Gohan now spent his days with the two most beautiful and popular women in school. It started slowly after the first week. Several of the school athletes and more popular kids began with passing insults whenever Gohan was away from the other three. After a few days it progressed into them knocking into him as hard as they could as they passed him and minor insults even in front of the other three.

Progressively, though, things kept escalating when it seemed as though the others weren't going to stop them. Videl, Erasa and Sharpner had started out just telling Gohan to ignore it and they would eventually move on to someone else.

One day in the seventh week of school, after finally realizing it wasn't going to stop, Videl said, "OK enough is enough. I'll take care of this Gohan. Don't worry about it anymore."

"It's really OK Videl. It doesn't bother me all that much. If I were still alone maybe it would, but I have you guys to spend time with. It's totally fine." Gohan reassured her.

"It's not OK! Those guys need to be taught a lesson!" She spat back angrily.

"It'll just cause more trouble Videl. Like you said before, they will get bored when they realize I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of giving them a rise."

"If I see it one more time, I don't care what you say! I am putting them down like the dogs they are!"

Gohan gulped a little bit and Sharpner and Erasa shuffled away slightly out of nervousness. They wouldn't have to wait long for her to try and make good on what she said.

The very next day, while walking to lunch a group of six members of the football team approached Gohan in an empty hall and knocked his books out of his hands. Gohan stopped and looked up at them with an odd look on his face. The group thought it almost looked amused.

"Something funny freak?" The leader, whose name was Jonathan and was also the captain of the weight lifting team, said angrily.

"Nothing at all. I find this to be very unfunny, actually. But if I were you guys, I wouldn't hang around too long. As much as I told her to stay out of it, Videl seemed to be pretty dead set on fighting you."

Jonathan stood up straighter and crossed his arms with a big smile on his face and said, "I truly hope so. I'd love to have some fun with the savior's daughter, if you know what I mean. Maybe while we're at it we can take care of Erasa too. I've always had a thing for them."

Gohan's face changed in an instant. It went from amused indifference to murderous anger. Jonathan, not one to be able to understand when he should stop, pushed further. "Oh don't like that, do you? Well they'd love it. In fact, I think we would be doing everyone a favor knocking them down a peg or two."

Gohan stepped closer to Jonathan, shrinking the already small distance. Very slowly and in a low, dangerous voice he said, "You will not touch either of them."

The group laughed at him, but Gohan didn't move an inch and stated more firmly and louder, "You will _not_ touch them."

They looked down at the nerd in front of them. They were slightly surprised that he wasn't backing down, but they weren't worried in the slightest. While Gohan was only a freshman, he was 5 feet and 9 inches tall and 150 pounds. Even the shortest and lightest of the athletes in front of him still had him by 20 pounds and two inches in height. They didn't feel he was a threat one on one, let alone six on one.

"And what are you going to do about it freak?" Jonathan said while the rest of his group laughed. Jonathan reached up to grab Gohan's shirt, but before he knew it, Gohan had twisted his hand and was holding it with his thumb and index finger. Jonathan was on his knees gripping Gohan's hand with his other, trying to force him to release his grip.

Gohan shouted at Jonathan and the rest of the group in a voice that seemed unearthly, " _ **You will not touch either of them!**_ "

He gripped Jonathan's hand tighter and twisted more causing him to abandon his attempts to free himself in order to put his free hand on the floor to keep himself up and screamed in agonizing pain.

One of Jonathan's lackeys took a swing at Gohan's head. Gohan saw it coming and threw his own punch directly at the approaching fist. There was a loud cracking sound that echoed down the abandoned hallway as the attacker's hand was shattered. He stumbled back a few feet staring at his hand with a sick look on his face before he threw up and passed out from the pain.

The rest of the group took that as their signal to act. There was a crunching noise as Gohan twisted further, breaking Jonathan's wrist and forearm while simultaneously spinning and giving the kneeling man a sweeping kick to the head. He was sent flying to Gohan's left which caused the two attackers on that side to trip over their fallen friend.

Gohan turned his attention to the two who were still standing and before anyone knew what happened, the two that had still been standing and the two that had fallen, were either unconscious or screaming in pain, gripping injuries they hadn't had a half of a second before.

Unbeknownst to the fighters, Sharpner, Erasa and Videl had walked up just as Jonathan had reached out for Gohan. Videl was just ahead of the other two as she was about to jump in and intervene when things turned in Gohan's favor. The three of them were frozen, looking on at what had just happened.

Gohan loomed over the group of would be attackers and spoke to them in a low, threatening sort of voice. It was just loud enough that Videl could hear, only because she was the closest. "If you ever touch a single hair on Videl's or Erasa's head or anyone that I care about, it will be the last thing you do on this Earth."

He paused to take a breath to relax himself while forcing himself to stand up straighter. In a clearer, but still threatening voice, he said, "Never forget what happened here today. I will not restrain myself like this if there is a next time."

Gohan looked up and spotted Videl, Erasa and Sharpner staring at him open mouthed. There was a hint of fear in all of their eyes. A look Gohan had been dreading they would give him since the day they met him. He stood there unsure of what to do.

"Gohan…", was all Videl was able to get out before Gohan turned and ran towards one of the school's side exits that was rarely used. She may have been wrong, but she could have sworn she saw sadness rip through his face as he turned to run.

"Gohan wait!" She called after him. But it was no use. Gohan was almost entirely out of the building by that point. She ran after him and burst out of the door that was still in the process of swinging closed.

He was nowhere to be seen. She looked around and couldn't see any sign of him anywhere. She wasn't sure how he got away so quickly, but there would be no figuring it out now. So she walked back to the door she had come out of to see Erasa and Sharpner standing there looking worried.

"Where'd he go, Videl?" Erasa asked in a pleading voice.

"I don't know. I have no idea how he got away so quickly."

"Who cares? How did he do that to the football team? Am I the only one who watched that?" Sharpner questioned.

"We'd better call an ambulance for them." Videl murmured.

"Are you serious? You did hear what Gohan yelled at them right? I'm pretty sure one of those guys said they were going to do something to you two! I say we just leave them and let them be found whenever someone goes down that hallway." Sharpner said with as much venom as he could muster.

"I know, but I'm sure Gohan didn't want them to die being trampled to death by kids coming back from lunch."

Erasa was already dialing from her cell phone.

A few hours later the only thing anyone knew was that the football team was basically out for the year and that only one of the injured players had awaken. There was a rumor going around that he was trying to say Gohan was to blame for what happened to them. Videl quickly squashed that rumor by telling the police and the school administrators that Gohan was with them during lunch but had to go home sick halfway through. She said they watched him leave the school grounds just before they found the six players in the hall on their way to tell the nurse about Gohan leaving. On top of all that, she pointed out that Gohan was a skinny nerd and wouldn't have had a hope against six of the biggest, strongest guys in school.

Everyone accepted her explanation and her apology for not telling them Gohan had left school early. Under the circumstances, they understood her forgetfulness.

No one had thought to get Gohan's phone number before this mess, so they didn't know how to get a hold of him. Erasa was hit by sudden inspiration during study hall. In a low whisper, she said "Videl! Why don't you see if you can find out his number from the police files or something?"

Videl looked at Erasa who she could tell was desperate to find Gohan. This is exactly why Videl didn't want Erasa to get too involved with someone they didn't know. Erasa and Gohan weren't dating, but Erasa was obviously smitten with him and wanted to spend any available time with him.

"I don't think I'm allowed to do that. I could get in trouble."

"Come on Videl. We all want to make sure Nerdboy is OK. He won't care about us calling him." Sharpner added.

"Fine." She pulled her laptop out and connected to the department's VPN. She did a search for Gohan Son but was surprised to find none of the search results matched him in the slightest. There was one result that could have been him, but nearly every bit of information in it was redacted, so there would be no way to make sure.

She disconnected and shut the laptop down. "Well that was a waste of time."

"Seriously, does he not exist? Is he a ghost that only we can see?" Sharpner was half joking, but at the same time mildly concerned about this person who they spent all of their time with but that the police had no information on.

"This is the same thing that happened when he first started here. I couldn't get any information on him from the internet or anywhere. All of the links I clicked on at home said they were blocked by Capsule Corp. Why is everything about him have to be some big secret?"

"Well, we know he likes his privacy. Maybe this is all a part of that. With people like the Ox King as his grandfather and Bulma Briefs as second mom to him, he has the ability to make sure no one finds out anything about him he doesn't want them to." Erasa defended.

Sharpner thought about it for a second and agreed, "Look we know Gohan is a good guy. He had been getting bullied for the past month by those guys. He didn't do anything about it until they made threats about you two. If he wants his privacy, I don't think we should push. Hopefully he will be back tomorrow and we can just talk to him then."

"I suppose you're right." Videl finally relented.

The next day, Gohan arrived at school and approached his friends more hesitantly than normal.

"Hey", was all he could think to say while reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Good morning Gohan." Erasa said sweetly to make sure he knew they were still friends.

Not one to beat around the bush, Videl came at it head on. "Look Gohan, about yesterday, thank you for what you did."

Gohan had visibly stiffened when she started talking, but by the end he just looked confused.

"I mean it. I don't need you to defend or protect me ever. But I appreciate that you care enough about Erasa and I to want to protect us. So thank you." She gave him a friendly punch in the arm, which Gohan had figured out was the emotional equivalent of a hug if she were Erasa.

Gohan let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "No problem Videl. I'm sorry about yesterday. I know you don't need me, or anyone to protect you from people like that. It's just that when they started saying that stuff about the two of you and what they wanted to do to you, I couldn't take it. I lost it a little bit. It took everything out of me to not keep hitting them. I get a little crazy when it comes to people I care about."

Now that he said it again when they weren't in shock over watching him beat six men larger than himself, the words sank in for them. Videl felt an unfamiliar feeling flutter in her stomach and chest. The moment was ruined when Erasa squealed and launched herself at Gohan. She wrapped her arms around his chest and he caught her and hugged back. Then she said something Videl hated to hear. "I think a little thank you is in order. Why don't you come shopping with us today after school Gohan?"

Gohan had been looking down at the tiny blonde with her arms wrapped around him, but looked up when he heard a groan come from Videl and Sharpner.

"If she is dragging you along to her temple, that makes you one of us officially Gohan. Sorry about your luck." Sharpner said with a slight mocking smirk.

' _That's odd. How bad could it be…'_ Gohan thought to himself.

Later that day he began to regret that thought and promised to never let Erasa thank him again.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

After everything calmed down, time seemed to fly by again. Soon they were nearing their winter break and looking forward to the time off of school. Erasa made sure her three friends knew that just because they weren't going to school for two weeks didn't mean she didn't want to see them every day during that time. She expected them all to spend as much time as they could with one another. Erasa wasn't alone in wanting to see certain classmates over the break though.

There were a growing number of students, mostly comprised of girls, that were becoming emboldened by the fact that Gohan hadn't shown any obvious romantic interest in either Videl or Erasa. Those girls were making their own plans for seeing their newest classmate during the winter break. As far as the socially conscious students were concerned, when Gohan had first joined the group, it was a foregone conclusion that he would end up with Erasa. When that didn't happen they assumed it was because Videl wanted him and told Erasa to back off.

As time passed, and it became obvious that Gohan and Videl weren't together, girls began to openly flirt with Gohan at every opportunity. Of course, when Videl did eventually show up by his side, they all scattered like birds fleeing from a cat. It seemed to them that, while Videl didn't want him, she didn't want anyone else to have him either. They felt it was a crime against nature to do to someone so perfect.

Of course, they didn't know anything about him other than the fact that they thought he was "dreamy" and that he was smart. Basically, they were just shallow teenagers who fell in and out of what they considered love on a daily basis.

"Do you _mind_? None of us will be able to eat with a dick infested man mattress around us!" Videl screamed at a particularly bold red headed girl, as she, Erasa and Sharpner approached their lunch spot. The girl had chosen her moment and waited for Gohan to head over to the spot under the tree, while the other three went to get their lunches. She was trying to flirt with Gohan in a subtle way, not realizing Gohan wouldn't understand.

Erasa always kept Videl informed of the latest school gossip, even if she didn't want to hear it. Videl had heard all about how this girl had slept with every guy she could find who would give her the time of day. It made her blood boil to see that girl flirt with Gohan. _'What makes her think she can go after Gohan like he's just another mindless lemming? That she can treat him like a travel toothbrush she can just use only to throw him away in a few days when she's done!'_

The girl gave Videl a glare of intense hatred. She walked off with her back ridged but turned back and playfully added, "See you around Gohan. Call me if you want to get together sometime!"

Gohan looked back and forth between his friends and the girl who was walking away now. He still didn't understand teenage social interactions well and had no idea what had just happened.

As they sat down Erasa turned to Videl and slowly said, "Dick infested man mattress?"

Sharpner couldn't stop himself and started laughing so hard his eyes began to water. Videl ignored him. Even though her angry eyes were on Gohan, she responded to Erasa's question. "You know what she's like! You were the one who told me about it! I don't want to have my food around someone like that. Some disease will probably jump off of her and onto my food!"

Gohan's eyes went wide with concern and he crouched down low over his food as if to protect it. Erasa noticed out of the corner of her eye and started laughing at the concerned look on his face. Videl allowed herself a smile knowing he was afraid something would possibly infect any food, let alone his.

They had eaten lunch with him every school day. The first time they actually were able to get to him before he started eating, they were horrified, disgusted, alarmed, intrigued and even a little envious by the way he ate and the amount he ate. How could someone eat like that and stay so fit? By the middle of the second week, they had gotten used to it and just chalked it up to him being him.

There were a lot of things like that with Gohan. The more time they spent with him the more they had learned that Gohan was a very different kind of person from anyone they had ever met. He ate a ton and ate it so fast a normal person would choke. He was a prince. He knew, spent time with or was related to some of the most famous people on the planet including his grandfather the Ox King, the entire Briefs' family and Yamcha, the MLB MVP for three years running. Recently they had learned that he had some kind of a connection to the one and only Turtle Hermit himself: the great and powerful Master Roshi.

On top of the surface things they had learned about him, they began to learn more about his less discernible qualities. He was one of the kindest, sweetest, most honorable men any of them had ever met. Yet he was humble; not once did they ever see him lord anything about himself, no matter what it was, over another person. He was chivalrous, but not sexist or chauvinistic.

After the second day of school, when she saw how muscular he actually was, Videl had watched Gohan closer, expecting to see him move the way a meat headed body builder would; with clunky, jerky movements and steps. She quickly noticed that he was so graceful and smooth in his movements that it was a bit unsettling.

They learned that, because he didn't want any additional attention on himself, he down played his physical abilities as much as possible, especially in Gym class. It was never more obvious than after the incident with Jonathan's group. That day they also found out two more things about him. First, his muscles weren't just for show; he knew how to use them very well. And second, you never want to mess with the ones Gohan cares about. It also showed them that they were people he cared about.

Finally, they learned that while he was incredibly intelligent, because he had always been so sheltered, he was very naive. That was especially true when it came to women his own age.

"You do realize she was hitting on you right?" Videl said more annoyed than she should have been.

"What do you mean? She was just asking about classes and homework." He looked genuinely confused by Videl's allegation.

"Really Gohan, it's been almost three and a half months. How can you not have figured this out by now?" Erasa chided. She was slowly giving up hope that Gohan would ever see her in a romantic way because of his naiveté.

"Aw lay off of him girls. Maybe he knew what she was doing and he wanted it. She's not bad looking ya know?" Sharpner defended which instantly earned him an angry glare from both Videl and Erasa.

Gohan jumped back while still sitting with his legs crossed. He nervously threw his hands in front of him and said, "What are you talking about? I didn't want to be hit on by her. You're crazy Sharpner!"

Videl eyed him while he nervously rubbed the back of his head and neck. _'Why does he look so nervous? Did he want her flirting with him?'_ This thought made her even angrier for some reason.

Of course Erasa's need for gossip overpowered her annoyance that Gohan might be interested in the red head, whose name was Angela. "You seem awful nervous there, mister. Could it be that you _did_ want to Angela hitting on you?"

"Why do you guys keep saying that? I didn't know she was hitting on me and I wouldn't want her to either. If I had known, I would have stopped her. I have no desire to lead her or anyone else on." Gohan was getting a little annoyed by their insistence that he was interested in that girl.

"OK fine. But I have a feeling she won't be the last girl to hit on you. If you really don't want them hitting on you, you need to let them know now." Erasa said in a helpful way.

"What do I tell them? Even though I'm not interested in them, I don't want to hurt their feelings." Gohan asked nervously.

"Tell them you are already with someone. Most of them will back off." Sharpner suggested.

"But I'm not dating anyone. I don't want to lie to them either."

"Just tell them you aren't interested in dating or being involved with anyone right now. Tell them you are just concentrating on studying or something. They'll believe you, cause let's face it, you're a nerd." Videl said with a smirk, knowing he wasn't as nerdy as he made himself out to be. She couldn't resist getting that shot in.

"Yeah. I guess that'll work. Thanks Videl!" An infectious smile spread across Gohan's face as he missed Videl's slight entirely. She nearly responded to his enthusiastic smile with one of her own but beat that back. "I'll be right back. I need to run to the bathroom."

As soon as he was out of ear shot, Erasa leaned over to her best friend and said, "So Videl..."

"What?"

"You know exactly what. Why do you care so much that girls are hitting on Gohan?" Erasa's voice was thick with implications.

"I don't! I didn't want to have to eat around her and he shouldn't be leading girls on unless he is interested."

Erasa gave her a smug, knowing look.

"Well maybe I do care a little bit. But only because he is a part of our group now and I wouldn't want that messed up because he has to go and date some floozy!"

"Sure Videl. Don't worry; your secret is safe with me."

"What secret?" She practically shouted. She was going to deny Erasa's implication until her last breath. "Besides I thought you liked him?"

"That doesn't mean you can't be interested in him too."

"Erasa we all know that Videl isn't interested in Gohan. Besides that, even if she was, Gohan would have to beat her dad. So don't get his hopes up. I like Gohan. He's a good guy. You shouldn't do that to him." Sharpner jumped in.

Videl didn't say anything, but for some reason she wanted to defend Gohan and tell Sharpner that it wasn't that far-fetched for her to like Gohan. But then she realized what that would sound like, so she just kept it to herself. This conversation was bothering her a lot.

Gohan came back and they sat around eating through their lunches and in their braver moments, grabbing something of Gohan's lunch. They knew they couldn't get away with stealing too much unless they wanted to lose a finger. But they also knew that no one cooked like Gohan's mom. In one of his more generous moments, Gohan had shared some of his lunch with them and they had been addicted ever since.

They sat together in a loose circle with Gohan against the tree and Erasa sitting very close by his side. After they were done with lunch they sat around talking together. Erasa wrapped her arms around Gohan's arm before asking, "So Gohan. What are you up to over winter break? Doing anything fun?"

"Not really. I suppose I'll do some training but other than that I don't have much going on. And I'm sure I'll see you guys too right?"

"Not me. My family and I are going skiing over vacation." Sharpner informed them.

"Sounds like fun. My dad is going to be out of town so I am going to be bored out of my mind. Unless of course Erasa comes over and rescues me." Videl said with a slight pout on her face.

"Of course! My parents won't care if I spend vacation over your house. Now we just need to figure out a way for us to see Gohan." Erasa said squeezing his arm tighter. Videl made a face as they all listened to Erasa prattle on, listing different methods they could get together until the lunch period ended.

The last week before winter break had finally arrived. Gohan noticed that since Videl had told off Angela during lunch, Videl seemed angry with him for some reason. She even seemed resentful of him. Not knowing what he might have done wrong, and not wanting to anger her further, Gohan walked on egg shells around her until she could get over whatever it was that was bothering her.

After P.E. ended on the last day of school the group said their goodbyes near their lockers. Sharpner gave Erasa a quick hug and, sensing Videl's hostility, gave Videl a gentle bump with his fist. He really would have preferred a hug, but even on a good day that would have resulted in her punching him.

Gohan was wrapped in a tight embrace from Erasa and she forced him to promise her that they would hang out over vacation while she held him tightly. Looking down at her bright blue eyes Gohan swore to her. "Just name the time and date and I will be there Erasa. There isn't anything that could stop me from seeing the both of you over vacation."

Erasa squealed and jumped back clapping her hands. "Thanks Gohan!"

"OK. Come on Erasa. Let's get back to my house. My dad wants to say goodbye to me before he leaves. Bye Sharpner." Videl said pulling her friend away and walking briskly.

"Bye Videl!" Gohan half shouted since they had already gotten so far.

Sharpner and Gohan watched the girls leave for a second before Sharpner said, "That was weird. What'd you do to Videl that she's so pissed off with you?"

"I have no clue. I wish she'd tell me. There really is no figuring her out is there?"

"Nope. I've been trying since we were kids and I still get hit on a regular basis."

"Well you do kind of bring that on yourself by hitting on her though right?" Gohan said with a chuckle.

"Just you wait. She'll come around to my side one of these days. Anyway, I gotta head home. Have a good vacation Nerdboy." Sharpner said giving Gohan a bro hug.

"Thanks. You too Sharpner. Have fun skiing." Even though it irked him in the beginning, he had grown fond of Sharpner's nickname for him. _'Now what should I do. I am a little hungry. I let everyone eat too much of my lunch today. Maybe I should stop and grab some food on my way home. Fast food places are used to gluttons, my order shouldn't be that abnormal for them.'_ And with that he headed off to the nearest fast food burger place.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Videl and Erasa idly chatted while flying back to Videl's house. After they landed and walked in, Erasa noticed that the house seemed oddly empty with the exception of a few footmen and maids. Erasa looked around and then turned to her best friend in the world. She suspiciously started, "Videl, where is your dad?"

A mix of guilt and exasperation crept onto Videl's face. "He left yesterday afternoon."

"What? Then why did you run away from Gohan without even saying goodbye? You nearly pulled my arm out of the socket trying to get me to come with you!"

"I'm sorry Erasa! He's just bugging me right now! All that stuff with Angela and all those other girls. I wish he would just stop lying to us and just tell us he likes her and just get it over with. Ugh!"

"Angela? What are you talking about? What girls?"

"You know! From lunch that one day."

"Are you talking about when you scared Angela off the week before last? Are you jealous?"

"No! It's just…I don't know. I don't even know what I'm talking about. My head just feels all mixed up and I have no clue why. It's making me even angrier that I don't know why I'm angry."

Erasa gave her a knowing look. _'She has never liked a guy like this before. Maybe she likes him more than I thought she did. I suppose I have to give up on him now. There is no way I can go after him anymore. I could never do that to Videl. Whether she admits it or not, she likes him and I don't think she'd be able to take seeing Gohan and I together.'_

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Videl snapped.

Erasa let out a sigh and said, "Nothing. Let's get up stairs so I can unpack."

She grabbed Videl's hand and pulled her up the stairs. As soon as Videl and Erasa got into Videl's room, though, Videl's phone went off. She grabbed it and saw it was the police. She sighed and answered.

"Chief?"

"Videl we have a hostage situation at the capitol building. The mayor has been taken hostage, please hurry!"

"I'm on my way!" and she hung up while turning to her best friend. "Sorry Erasa, I gotta go. You know where everything is. I'll be back soon!" She shouted while running out the door.

She ran outside, threw her jetcopter capsule down and dove in, taking off at full speed.

Gohan, on the other hand, had just finished his first dinner and was flying home. He had worked himself into a little bit of a sour mood. _'I thought Videl and I were good friends. I thought she understood me at least a little. She didn't even say goodbye today. She couldn't wait to get away from me.'_ As he was flying over the capitol building, he heard the shooting start. He stopped in midflight and paused there. _'I really shouldn't get involved in this. The police are already here. They need to take care of it. I won't always be here to fight their battles for them.'_

Just as he was finishing his thought, he noticed twelve men dressed in black BDUs, filled with weapons and ammunition, pulling a thirteenth person onto the roof. This person was dressed in a suit and tied to a chair. As he watched eight of the men took position around the roof and the other four set up a guard around the one who was tied up. They seemed to be waiting for something. Gohan watched from his vantage point in the sky. He was low enough where he could see what was happening, but high enough where he didn't have to worry about being seen.

As he watched a bright yellow jetcopter with the word "Satan" written on it flew full speed up to the roof. The three men on that side of the building along with four men in the middle, opened fire while the others kept watch for a sneak attack on their side. These people were well trained and trusted their team members to watch each other's backs by covering their own sector.

' _There is no way that is Videl. I know she said they call her in on the big stuff, but that was just for support right? They wouldn't let her do something like this right?'_ But as he watched a small girl with jet black hair jumped out of the vehicle. The jetcopter she leapt from had started to smoke and then plummeted, crashing into the side of the building on its descent. She landed just after the explosion which knocked a few of the men down.

She ran as fast as she could, trying to use the layout of the roof to her benefit, she ducked and moved between random vents, air conditioning units and pipes. She made it to the men who had been knocked down, punting their heads like footballs until she got to the last of the three who had been knocked down and she had to knee him in the face. _'Three down nine to go!'_ She thought as she went to move to the next closest man.

As she came into view of some of the other men, though, they opened up on her with automatic rifle fire. She dove behind the nearest thing she could find which was an air conditioner. She curled up in a ball and covered her head as bullets began to rip through the thin metal and zip by her, smacking into the parapet around the roof. The two on the wall nearest her kept up a constant stream of machine gun fire to pin her down, while three of the four guarding the mayor started to quickly and quietly move around to the side to put her out in the open.

She opened her eyes just in time to see all three men move into place and take aim at her _'PLEASE NO! I don't want to die!'_ She suddenly saw random flashes of important events in her life. Inexplicably, the last one she saw, and the one that lingered the longest, was of Gohan walking into class on the first day of school. Before she could give that a second thought though, she saw muzzle flashes erupt from all three machine guns aimed at her.

Suddenly, before anything could hit her, she saw black eyes appear in front of her own and felt a well-muscled body constrict her own. She was nestled neatly in front of this person's torso since she was curled up into such a tight ball. It felt like this person was scared, though, because they were shaking uncontrollably.

The sound of machine guns stopped and, with it, the shaking of the person holding her. She realized at once that he hadn't been shaking out of fear, but she was just feeling the impact of the bullets on his back. As she was able to focus more on the entire face, she noticed that this person looked a lot like Gohan. He vanished before she could get a better look and reappeared in front of the three who had flanked her. With his back to her she could see he was wearing the same clothes Gohan had been to school that day, but they were torn and full of holes. She couldn't see any blood on him, but there were a lot of angry red welts.

He moved rapidly through the three in front of him, simultaneously elbowing the man on the right, kicking the man on his left with a side kid and kneeing the man in front of him. All three flew in different directions, landing in bloody, unmoving heaps. Using his super speed, he ran around the roof, knocking out each of the criminals in turn.

Videl got up and peeked around the corner just in time to see her savior slam into the last man's chest with both of his hands opened wide. The man flew halfway across the roof and crashed into an air vent, ripping through it, landing on the other side. His uniform and flesh were torn to shreds by the thin metal cover and vents he was pushed through, but he would live.

She watched as the man who saved her bent down, tore the restraints holding the mayor to the chair and helped him up. He then turned his attention to Videl and she knew she was right. Somehow, Gohan had taken dozens of bullets for her, knocked out nine men and freed the mayor in the blink of an eye.

"G-Gohan…?" She managed to choke out.

He turned and cautiously walked over to her, unsure of the reaction of this girl who seemed to be so upset with him. As he approached her his face went from one of serious concern to utter horror. He bolted over to her and touched her back. When he pulled his hand back it was covered in blood. In the heat of the moment and the adrenaline coursing through her veins, Videl didn't feel the large round slice down her back after it ripped through the unit she was hiding behind. The moment she saw the blood though, the pain from the deep cut along her spine came to her tenfold. She screamed and writhed on the ground.

Gohan knew she wouldn't survive this type of injury no matter how quickly he got her to a hospital. Gohan had never dealt with healing in a normal way. He always had a senzu bean on hand, was rushed to Dende or spent some time in a healing tank at Capsule Corp. His genes helped to keep him alive until he reached one of those. Unsure of what to do, Gohan picked her up and flew her at full speed to Capsule Corp. He pushed himself so hard, his hair went from black to blonde as he pushed from his first transformation to his second without skipping a beat and while on the move.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Bulma and Chichi had planned on ambushing Gohan as soon as he walked through the door. They needed a midyear update on Gohan's school. They planned to ask him about girls, friends, girls, classes, and girls. All of those plans went out the window when Gohan burst in covered in blood, carrying a pale girl, who was leaving a trail of blood on the floor.

"I need a senzu bean or a healing tank NOW!" Gohan yelled when he walked in the door.

"Medical wing," was all Bulma said as they ran in that direction. On arriving, Gohan put her down on one of the tables as Bulma ran in behind them.

"What happened?" She asked. She had taken on a very clinical and professional mindset. While she may not have been a medical doctor, she had been the one to put all of her friends back together more often than not. Lately, it mostly been Vegeta and Gohan after they pushed themselves to hard, but she knew what she was doing.

"It looks like a bullet slid down along her spine and cut her entire back open." Gohan said with urgency and concern. Videl had become quieter; she was thrashing less and barely made a sound for the last couple of minutes of the flight. He watched intently as Bulma cut her shirt and shorts free so she could examine her injuries better.

"This isn't good. But it doesn't look like there are any bullets still in her. Get her in the tank, we're out of senzu." Bulma said as she finished checking her vitals.

Before she had finished speaking Gohan had pulled her off the table and placed her into the nearest tank and hooked the mask to her face. The door normally closed on its own, but today it moved far to slow for Gohan. He forced it shut, the hydraulics wailing in protest, and hit the button to fill the tank. Gohan programmed the healing cycle while it filled. Videl's vitals appeared on the screen and an estimated healing time slowly began to calculate. It displayed 137 minutes when it finally started counting down. Gohan stepped back, crossed his arms and watched.

By this time Chichi and Vegeta had also arrived. Vegeta had simply been drawn by the commotion.

"OK brat. Explain all of this, NOW!" Vegeta barked at him. He did not like the potential attention this could bring on his family.

"After school I stopped and got something quick to eat. I was angry feeling after my day and figured I was just hungry from my small lunch. After eating I took off to come here. I was moving slowly to give myself time to digest in case you decided to punch me in the stomach when I got here.

As I flew over a building in Satan City, I noticed men pulling a hostage onto the roof. As I watched, Videl here arrived and attacked them. After she took out 3 of them, they pinned her down and started to move into position to kill her. I couldn't let that happen, so I dove in the way and blocked their shots. I took them out as quick as I could once they stopped firing at her.

I guess one of the bullets had gone through whatever she was hiding behind and cut her back open before I got there. I knew it was bad and couldn't let her die. I didn't know what else to do, so I brought her here."

"Who is she?" Chichi asked.

"Her name is Videl Satan. I go to school with her. She volunteers for the police on major cases and emergencies. I had no idea they would have sent her in on something like that. Those men were trained and very dangerous, at least by human standards anyway."

"You're fine though right?" Bulma asked looking at the boy.

"Yeah. I think these welts on my back are going to be sore tomorrow. I didn't have enough time to transform or protect myself at all."

"Well you should go to your room and get changed. As proud as you might be of your rear end, no one wants to see it while they're eating OK?" Bulma joked with him trying to lighten the mood.

Gohan sighed deeply and walked out. He was in no mood to be joking around just yet.

"Well I guess that answers the question of whether or not there are any girls in his life!" Chichi joked when he was out of ear shot.

Vegeta took this opportunity to go back to training, leaving them without a word.

A few minutes later, Gohan walked back into the medical wing in a new set of clothes that had never been worn. Since Bulma had bought the clothes without consulting him, they were more stylish than his normal clothes and more form fitting as well. But at this point, Videl had already seen him walk away unscathed from being shot, move faster than the speed of light, take out nine men without breaking a sweat and then fly while carrying her halfway across the globe. She had also seen him in a t-shirt at least one other time. It wouldn't matter if she saw a bit of muscle on him.

Happily, his mother, Bulma and Vegeta had all left. He didn't feel like answering any more questions about Videl or what happened to her. And he especially did not want to hear any implications that they'd be getting married soon. While he may not have had to worry about that from Bulma or Vegeta, his mother was not going to let this go.

He sat down in a dark corner with his legs crossed under him and closed his eyes, focusing hard on Videl's life force. It was weak, but it was slowly getting better. Gohan concentrated on it and tried to will her to heal faster.

After about two hours, Gohan became distracted from his efforts by the entrance of Bulma who was coming down to check on the patient.

"Hey Gohan. How's she doing?" She could tell Gohan had been concentrating on Videl and would be able to give her a better answer than the screen in front of her.

"Any minute now and she'll be back to normal."

"That's good. I'm glad to hear it. So…when she wakes up, you know she is going to have questions. What are you planning on telling her?"

"I don't know."

"Well, whatever you decide, we will all back you. We trust you to do the right thing."

"Thanks Bulma." He stood and looked down at his second mother. This had been a crazy few months. Starting this school year depressed that he was forced into something that he didn't want to do, having to be put in front of entire group of strangers to introduce himself, having to relive the Cell games and his father's rejection of him. He thought he was getting better with his friends' help. And now someone else he cared about had gotten hurt because he failed to act. He wanted to see how well she would do. She was paying the price because he didn't step in like he should have.

Bulma saw his eyes moisten and walked over to him embrace him tightly. Gohan accepted the hug and pulled himself closer into her. He hated feeling like this. He felt weak and drained. He was glad Vegeta was nowhere around. He took a second to regroup with Bulma gently stroking his back and holding him in a motherly way. He stepped back from Bulma and rubbed his face.

"Thanks Bulma. I needed that."

"Anytime kid."

Just then a beeping noise alerted them to the fact that the rejuvenation tank was emptying. Gohan walked over to the console and pressed the keys that would open the tank door. Videl was curled in a ball, soaking wet at the bottom of the tank. Gohan stepped in, removed the mask and picked her up. He carried her over to one of the beds, laid her down and covered her up. He was pretty sure that she wouldn't like being in her bra and underwear in front of anyone, especially her friend and his family. He didn't think he would be able to look at her without his face burning up with blush now that she was out of danger anyway.

A moment later Videl woke up in a place she had never been before, but she thought looked like a futuristic hospital. She looked over to see a beautiful aqua haired woman in a white coat, who she assumed was her doctor.

"Ugh. What happened doc?" She asked the woman in the white coat. She was still in a daze.

"Your back was cut open when a shot grazed you. You were almost dead when you were brought in."

"What hospital is this? How long have I been out? Did anyone call my dad?" She was still groggy, but she needed information.

"You are not in a hospital. This is medical wing of Capsule Corporation. You've been out for about two and a half hours. And no, we have not called your father, but you probably should as soon as you are feeling up to it."

"Capsule Corporation?! How did I get here?"

"You were brought here by the person who rescued you. He wasn't sure where else to turn since a normal hospital would not have been able to save you, or repair the damage done. Your back was ripped wide open from your C4 all the way down to your L1. He had to get you out of there as fast as he could. This was the first place he thought of."

Videl tried to sit up but her back was incredibly stiff and she winced slightly in mid motion.

"You shouldn't move around too much. You are going to be very sore for a couple of days but you don't have to worry about any lasting damage. You won't even have a scar because of how quickly you were healed." Bulma said slowly while gently pushing her back down.

Videl laid back down and looked up at the woman who she assumed was her doctor. "Are…are you…Bulma Briefs?"

Bulma looked down at her with a kind smile. "You recognize me huh?"

"It would be kind of hard not to recognize the smartest, richest and most powerful woman on the planet!"

"Well I don't know about all that, but if that is how you want to see me, I'm not going to argue." She joked giving Videl a wink.

Videl smiled a little bit at this. For such an amazing person, Mrs. Briefs was very approachable and sociable. Suddenly she remembered how she got there and the events that led up to it.

"Gohan!" She yelled as she looked around in panic.

"I'm right here." He said stepping out of the dark corner he had been standing in.

"Are you OK? I saw them shooting you!"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. How are you feeling?"

"How are you fine?! I felt you get hit in the back? How did you move like that? How did you get me here without anyone seeing you?" Nearly dying had overwhelmed her and tears were starting to bud in her eyes.

"I will explain everything as soon as you're better. Please just try and relax for now. We can heal your body easily enough, but the stress on your mind will take time. We should let you call your dad and get some rest." He said as he started to move away from the bed she was in. Gohan didn't want her going into shock.

"No wait!" She yelled sitting up and reaching out very quickly, grabbing his hand. "Please don't go just yet. Just stay here with me."

Gohan looked down at her and saw the fear in her eyes. She was always so self-assured; he had never seen her this way. After what she had just been through only to wake up in a strange place, she was probably grabbing on to anything that felt familiar.

"OK. I'll stay, just try and take it easy. Did you want a phone to call your dad?"

"Yes please."

Without turning from her he said, "Bulma, would you mind grabbing her phone out of her shorts please?"

It took her a second to process that sentence. _'How could Bulma grab something out of my shorts when they are on my body?'_ She looked down and realized she was barely clothed and pulled the sheet tighter around herself but still held onto Gohan's hand, afraid to let go.

"What happened to my clothes?"

"Sorry dear. That was my fault. I had to cut them off to make sure nothing got over looked and we didn't heal you with a bullet still in your body." Bulma jumped in and reassured her.

"Oh. Um…" Videl wasn't sure what to say to that. She didn't know whether to be angry or not.

"Don't worry. You're just a tiny bit smaller than Chichi, but you should fit into her clothes. Give me a few minutes and I'll be back with them so you can get changed." Bulma added handing Videl her phone and walking out of the room.

Gohan was still being held onto, so he reached out with his other hand and pulled a chair closer. He sat down and left his arm resting on the bed so Videl could keep his hand.

Videl unlocked her phone and dialed her dad's number. Hercule answered after a ring and a half.

" _ **VIDEL! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?**_ I've been worried sick about you! I heard about what happened with the Mayor and the police haven't been able to find you! Where are you? Are you OK? I'm coming home right now to see my baby girl." Hercule screamed as soon as he answered.

Videl pulled the phone away from her ear. The screaming was making the headache, which she didn't even know she had, worse.

"Dad I'm fine. Please stop yelling though. It's giving me a headache. I'm with…a friend." She didn't know if she was supposed to say anything about Gohan or where she was. She knew Gohan well enough to know that he wanted his private life kept private. "I'm OK. I will be home later on. I have to go now. I just wanted to check in and make sure you knew I was fine."

She hung up before he could respond. They sat in silence for a second, her hand in his.

"Thank you." She finally forced herself to say it. "Thank you for saving my life."

Gohan looked at her and stared deeply into her blue eyes, his emotions inscrutable. This was the Gohan she had only caught glimpses of in school. He looked away from her and sealed his eyes shut.

"When I was six I watched my mentor die because I didn't act when I was supposed to. When I was seven I watched three of my friends die, and my dad and another friend get beaten to within an inch of their lives while I stood by and did nothing. Five years ago, I watched everyone close to me get beaten half to death. I watched someone innocent and pure murdered and then watched my dad and one of my best friends die, all because I didn't act when I should have." He stopped and looked at her again.

"I couldn't let that happen again. I had to step in and do something."

"…How can you do all that stuff you did on the roof?"

Gohan smiled at her and rubbed the back of his head. "It's not that special. There are a lot of people who can do what I do…mostly."

"Could I learn?"

Gohan thought about it for a second. "Yeah. I don't think you would have any trouble with it. You've been training for years."

"Would you teach me?" Her eyes were pleading and she gripped his hand as tight as she could with both of hers.

He didn't want to disappoint his friend after what she had been through. He couldn't do that. He gave her an encouraging smile. "As soon as you are better we can get started."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

After Gohan was able to calm Videl down somewhat, Videl let her brain wander over her day when something clicked in her memory. She suddenly exclaimed, "Erasa!"

Gohan flinched slightly and his ears began ringing. "What about her?"

"I left her at my house. I told her I would be right back and I'm hours away from home."

She made to start getting up, but Gohan was at her side in a flash pushing her back onto the bed. "I don't think you should go anywhere just yet Videl. You've been through a lot today. I'd feel better if you stayed here for now."

"I can't just leave her at my house all alone." Videl was glaring at Gohan now. _'Why would he think I would just abandon her to stay here.'_ Her previous irritation with Gohan was starting to show through again.

"I can go get her Videl. The two of you can stay here while you recuperate."

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Videl was getting louder by the second.

Gohan put his hands up in surrender. "I know there isn't. I know. But _I_ would feel better if you and Erasa stayed here for a couple of days. Just for me. Please."

Videl glared at Gohan for a minute before finally relenting. "Fine! Go ahead and get her. Just hurry up."

"Thank you Videl. Let me make get Bulma so she can show you to a room. You don't want to go wandering around here; it's easy to get lost."

"Hngh." Was all Videl could respond as Gohan bolted out of the medical wing. _'He is fast…I can't wait to start training!'_ She thought as she did her best to suppress the smile spreading on her face.

Gohan ran into his mom and Bulma already walking in his direction. "Did you get her clothes?"

"Of course. What do we look like Gohan?" Chichi asked offended.

"I'm sorry. I offered to have both Videl and our friend Erasa stay here. That's OK, right?" _'I really should have asked Bulma before I offered for them to stay.'_

"That'll be perfect Gohan. I can't wait to meet this other girl too."

Gohan gave her a smirk knowing what Bulma was thinking. "I have to go pick up our friend Erasa. She's staying at Videl's over our break and I don't think Videl should leave yet. So I have to get Erasa to bring her here. Mom would you mind getting a couple of rooms ready for them while I'm picking Erasa up, please?"

He needed to make sure to occupy his mom for as long as possible to keep her away from Videl. If his mom was able to corner Videl, the interrogation would be merciless. He really had to move quickly. He also had to make sure Videl didn't start wandering around on her own. Vegeta was usually in the gravity room, but you could never be too safe.

"I suppose so. But only because of what Videl has been through today." Chichi said testily.

"Thank you mom. Bulma, would you mind taking the clothes and Videl and taking her somewhere to get cleaned up please?" Gohan pleaded.

"I would have already done that if you weren't standing in my way." Bulma said pointedly.

"Oh…right…Sorry Bulma. Thank you so much for everything." He said bolting away from them.

"We'll be waiting for you and your friend honey!" Bulma sang as he ran past her. The only response she got was a quiet growl as she watched Gohan's receding figure. Bulma and Chichi chuckled to one another at Gohan's reaction.

Gohan bolted up stairs and grabbed a jet capsule from the preproduction line. He jumped out the nearest window and blasted into the sky as fast as he could. It would only take him a couple of minutes to get there, but the flight back would be much slower in the jet. The capsule he grabbed was the fastest one in existence, but there was still around 2500 miles to travel with his very talkative, affectionate friend. _'Suddenly this doesn't seem like such a good idea. Maybe I should have let Videl do this…'_

Soon enough he was over Satan City. It was dark so he didn't have any reason to circle around the city or land in an alleyway. Instead, he dropped down just outside of the gate to Videl's home. The property was easy enough to spot. Hercule had well lit statues of himself all over the place. It was as gaudy as a person could imagine.

Rather than announce his presence to the staff still on hand, he pulled out his phone to call Erasa.

" _Gohan?"_ Erasa answered.

"Hey Erasa. I'm outside of Videl's house right now, would you mind letting me?"

" _You're here? Of course!"_ He could hear her scurrying down to let him in. _"Is everything OK?"_

"Yeah. I'll explain in a bit."

Erasa let him in and as they walked he told her why he was there and what had happened to Videl. He omitted most of his involvement. Erasa quickly packed her stuff back in her bags and she and Gohan headed outside to take off in the jet Gohan had brought. They were five minutes into their flight and Erasa had been speaking for four and a half of them. Gohan knew Erasa was just worried about her friend, just like he was. Gohan entered their destination into the autopilot.

The jet he had grabbed was capable of mach 6.70. The autopilot showed them that the trip would take them another 24 minutes. _'OK. Perfect. That means by the time we get there, I'll have only been gone for about 45 minutes. No time for Videl to have been interrogated yet.'_ Gohan relaxed a little bit and became more involved in the conversation with his friend.

* * *

Bulma arrived in the medical wing, clothes in hand, to check on Videl. Videl was sitting with the sheet wrapped tightly around herself staring out the window from the bed. Bulma stood in the doorway for a moment observing her. She noticed that when she wasn't scowling, this girl was pretty. She began wondering if this girl was more than just a friend to Gohan. _'Well, only one way to find out.'_

"How is the patient feeling?"

Videl jumped a little, not being aware there was anyone else in the room. She had been lost in her thoughts before the interruption. "Oh hey. Fine. I'll feel better once I have some clothes on."

"That's why I'm here." Bulma chirped. "I have some clothes for you, but if I don't miss my guess, you probably want to shower first, right?"

"Yes please. I feel all sticky, like I've had slime all over me or something."

"That's from the fluid we submersed you in for the healing process. You'll feel less gross after you shower. Follow me but take it slowly. I brought you a robe so you don't have to walk down there feeling exposed." She said handing Videl the robe.

Videl quickly slipped it on. "Thanks."

"No problem." She began leading the way to the room Videl would be staying in. Bulma knew her friend well enough to know that Chichi would be setting up the two guest rooms so that she could be between the two girls and Gohan. As anxious as Chichi was for grandchildren, Chichi did not want them while they were still in high school. Excluding the year spent training with Goku, and even though he didn't look it, Gohan was only 14 years old after all. It was a long walk to the room and they had fallen silent.

"So? You go to school with Gohan huh?" Bulma started feeling a little awkward. She probably should have found out what Gohan had told her about their family.

"Yep. He's a good guy. I'm sure you know that though." Videl said uncomfortably.

"He is. He's a lot like his dad in that way. You couldn't have found a better man than Goku. He was just a little bit…I guess you could say he was slow with some things. He grew up so sheltered he didn't know what a girl was until I met him." She chuckled and then sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry. About him dying I mean."

"It's OK. It's been years. I really don't know why I brought it up." Bulma shook her head and decided to change the topic. "Anyway. I feel bad. Gohan said your name when he first brought you in, but there were a lot of other things to concentrate on at the moment. What's your last name again?"

Videl didn't think Bulma would be star struck by her or her dad, so she didn't think anything of telling her. "Satan."

Bulma stopped suddenly with a look of surprise on her face. "Satan? As in Hercule Satan?"

"Yeah." _'Maybe I shouldn't have told her that. I didn't think she would care…'_

A huge smile graced Bulma's face before she could compose herself. She had nearly burst out laughing but was able to contain herself. "So Gohan is friends with Hercule Satan's daughter. Crazy. Well, just as a word to the wise, don't spread that around too much here. Especially when it comes to my husband. He's not your dad's biggest fan."

"O…K…" Videl mumbled, not sure how to feel about what Bulma had said. _'At least I don't have to worry about them going crazy about me or my dad. Hmm. Actually, I kinda like it. I get to just be myself with these people without having to be Hercule's daughter.'_

Just then there was an explosion that shook the entire complex followed by a roar so angry Videl felt every hair on her body stand on end. " _What was that?_ "

"Don't worry about it. It was just my husband. I'll take care of it later."

" _WOMAN!_ Keep them away from me!" Videl heard the voice that had roared scream. She was suddenly feeling self conscience that he was talking about her and Erasa when she arrived. Before she could ask though, two terrified children jumped into Bulma's arms and shivered in fear.

"What did you boys do?" Bulma's voice, surprisingly, wasn't comforting, but very stern.

"Nothing! Dad just doesn't like to have fun." The purple haired boy said shaking.

"Yeah! All we did was help him train in the gravity room." The other little boy said with a quivering bottom lip that made him look adorable.

"And how did you help him?" Bulma prompted. She knew there was something they were leaving out. Vegeta had chilled out significantly recently and for them to get him this angry they would have had to have done something to him.

"He asked us to turn up the gravity for him from the control room cause he didn't want to stop. So we did! But Goten turned it up too high too fast and he fell down, so I had to turn it down…" The purple haired boy explained. Bulma couldn't help but notice the mischievous glint in his eye.

"Yeah but then Trunks turned it down too low and Dad hit the ceiling so I had to turn it back up! And you said he could take it anyway!" Goten defended.

"You still turned it up too high Goten!"

"Well at least I didn't make him hit the ceiling again Trunks!"

"He wouldn't have hit the ceiling if he wasn't pushing so hard to get up cause you had the gravity up too high Goten!"

"Yeah huh Trunks!"

"Nuh uh!"

"Yeah huh!"

"Nuh.."

"Enough!" Bulma shouted, interrupting their back and forth. "You boys should know better than to mess with your dad when he's training. He's told you before, 'no more than 10Gs at a time,' right?"

"Yeah." They said in unison; the picture of shame.

"You know what you did was wrong, right?"

"Yeah, we're sorry."

"It's OK boys. But don't interrupt him again. It might be a good idea to avoid the training wing for a few hours. I'll think of a punishment later. For now, run on ahead and see if Chichi needs any help getting the girls' rooms ready."

At this point the boys noticed the presence of the girl in the robe.

"Who's she?" Trunks asked.

"Boys this is a friend of Gohan's. Her name is Videl." Bulma introduced. "Videl, this is Trunks and this is Goten."

Before Videl could say anything, Goten piped up. "Are you my brother's girlfriend?"

"Goten that isn't polite." Bulma chastised. She couldn't help but notice the deep shade of red Videl had turned.

"Why would Gohan want a girlfriend? They have cooties!" Trunks said in shock, hoping cooties couldn't be transmitted to him through Gohan's interaction with the girl somehow.

"That's OK Trunks. Mommies have the cure. It's lots and lots of cuddles!" Bulma said nuzzling the boy to his embarrassment. He was 4 now, far too old to be coddled like that in front of other people. The women in the room giggled at him turning red.

He sprung from her arms, followed shortly by Goten. "OK boys. You have work to do. Go help Chichi."

She patted Goten on his rear end as they scampered away. When she turned back Videl's eyes were dancing. Videl couldn't remember her mom and wondered if this is what her home would have been like if her mother hadn't died giving birth. Her dad training for tournaments, her mom hugging her and cuddling her. _'If only…'_ Videl thought.

They started walking again and Videl was trying to take her mind off of the "what ifs". "So those are your sons?"

"Just Trunks. Chichi is Goten's mom."

"Oh…wait…so I don't understand. Were Gohan's mom and Vegeta together or something?"

Bulma couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the mental picture. Vegeta barely tolerated Chichi and she barely tolerated him. There would be no chance the two of them would ever be together. "Why would you think that?"

"Well you said Chichi was Goten's mom. But Goten called Vegeta dad."

"Oh, that. Yeah Goten never got to meet his real father. And since Trunks is always calling Vegeta dad, Goten just started doing it. When he was younger we used to correct him, but he never stopped and we just gave up on it. Even Vegeta ignores it now and he was the most opposed to it in the beginning."

"Oh OK. Gohan did mention that you guys were all kind of one big family."

"You'll get used to it if you're going to be hanging around our Gohan. Well, here is your room." She said leading her around the bedroom. "This is the bathroom, there are towels and such there. When you're done you can come out to the living room if you'd like. If you come out of the door and go left, you won't be able to miss it on your right a few doors down."

"Thank you Bulma."

"You're welcome hun." Bulma said over her shoulder as she walked out, leaving the clothes on the dresser.

' _Alright, time to get this gunk off of me.'_ She thought as she got herself ready for the longest most thorough shower of her life. She had a lot to think over. She had gotten so much information in the last few hours. She found out so much about Gohan, and about his family and how they interacted with each other. She even had feelings she had to process after seeing Bulma interact with Trunks and Goten.

Videl climbed into the shower and started the process of removing filth, loosening muscles and straightening out thoughts. _'I have a feeling this is going to be a long, informative week.'_


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Gohan landed the jet expertly despite his relative inexperience with vehicles. He opened the hatch, jumped down and then turned back to help Erasa. After she threw down her stuff, she climbed down the small set of stairs. Gohan took her hand and helped her keep her balance as she jumped down the small distance between where the stairs ended and the ground started.

Gohan picked up her stuff with his one hand as she was still clinging to his other. When he stood up straight she pulled him closer and he noticed she was chewing on her thumb nail.

"Is everything alright Erasa? If it's about Videl, she will be fine once she gets some rest." Gohan said trying to reassure her as they walked along towards the domes.

"No it's not that. I'm just nervous. I can't believe I'm at Capsule Corp. and I'll be meeting Bulma Briefs!"

"Is that all? You spend all day long with Videl and regularly spend time around Hercule Satan. Why would you feel nervous about meeting Bulma?"

"That's completely different! I've always known them!" She practically squealed. "We are talking about Bulma Briefs!"

"Well then don't think about her that way. Think of it as meeting my mother," he said trying to get her to relax.

It was then that she froze and Gohan was jerked to a stop despite her small stature. When he looked at her she was pale and looked as though she had seen a ghost. "Erasa?"

Sounding breathless she said, "Gohan, I can't meet your family like this! I'm all gross from school and the flight here!"

Gohan chuckled at her and smiled reassuringly, "Erasa. Everyone is going to love you. Now let's get inside and see how Videl is doing."

Still looking unsure, Erasa allowed Gohan to pull her along in the direction of where he felt Videl. He was happy to see that she was alone and, as close as he could tell, was in one of the rooms probably getting cleaned up. He managed to avoid having to see anyone else as he made it to where Videl's room was. Gohan checked the room next to hers and found it had been readied for Erasa.

He dropped her stuff at the food of the bed, but before he could say a word he noticed his mom standing in the doorway. "Oh hey mom!"

Erasa had her back to the door and was facing her friend, still holding his hand. On hearing Gohan announce his mother's presence, she spun around bringing her free hand to her throat where she felt her heart had jumped to.

"Who's your friend Gohan?" Chichi asked in a sweet way that Gohan was instantly suspicious of.

"Mom, this is Erasa. The friend that I told you I had to go pick up that was at Videl's. Erasa, this is my mother Chichi."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Son," Erasa said with a slightly shaky voice.

"Thank you hun. I'm always happy to meet a friend of my son's. And such a beautiful girl at that." Chichi looked the girl over and noticed their conjoined hands. "So you and Gohan are together, huh?"

The teens jumped back from each, Gohan's hand moved from Erasa to the back of his neck. Erasa threw both of her hands behind her back. Her face felt like it was exploding in flame from the amount of blush that rushed to it.

"Mom! It isn't anything like that! We are just friends!" Gohan nearly shouted.

"Uh huh," Chichi said unconvinced. "Well in either case, Vegeta has been shouting for you for the past fifteen minutes. Evidently the boy were messing with him while he was training and he needs someone to spar with to take his frustration out on."

Gohan sighed before starting to head off toward where he knew Vegeta to be. "Well the longer he waits the more angry he'll be. I'll be back in a little while Erasa. Why don't you get settled for now?"

"Don't hurt him too badly sweetie," Chichi called to him.

Erasa just looked after him, half wanting to follow him to see what it looked like when Gohan was in a fight where he actually tried. She had only ever seen him fight the once, when Jonathan and his group had challenged him. She then noticed she was being observed by Gohan's mother though and a light blush graced her cheeks.

She tried to recover as best as she could. "Thank you for letting both Videl and I come here Mrs. Son."

"Please call me Chichi. We are happy to have you both here after what Videl has been through. And we have been looking forward to meeting you since Gohan started school. He's told us so much about you."

Erasa's blushed deepened at hearing that Gohan had spoken about her to his mother. _'Videl, you had better hurry up and figure out that you like Gohan. I'm not sure how long I can keep my feelings to myself!'_

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled. Videl is in the next room if you want to see her."

"Thank you again Mrs. S...I mean Chichi."

"You're welcome dear." Chichi walked out, closing the door behind her.

Erasa threw herself back onto the bed behind her with her limbs stretched out. She still couldn't believe it. She had just met Gohan's mom, she was in Capsule Corp, she would soon be meeting the Briefs family, and she would be getting to spend days with Gohan. Life was good.

Videl, meanwhile, had gotten herself cleaned up and dressed in the clothes that were left for her. They were stylish and just a little bit big on her. Of course, that just made her feel more comfortable knowing she could move in the clothes. She hadn't worked anything out in her head during her time alone, but she was feeling calmer and more relaxed now.

Then she heard a small explosion followed by the feeling that the entire building was shaking. She ran to the door and yanked it open and stood there looking in both directions of the hallway. To her right, she noticed a blonde head poke out of the door next to her.

"Erasa!"

"Videl! I was so worried about you," Erasa said wrapping her arms around her best friend.

"I'm fine Erasa. What do you think that was?"

"I don't know. This is Capsule Corp though. Maybe an experiment went wrong."

"Well maybe we should go check it out."

"Do you think it's OK for us to go snooping around?"

"Of course. If we are going to be staying here for a few days there is no reason we shouldn't get a feel for this place."

"Well lead the way then."

Erasa stayed right next to her best friend as Videl lead them around. They weren't sure where the sound had come from but luckily for them, there heard the sound of an occasional follow up explosions. They were finally able to narrow down the source of the explosions to a door labeled training. Feeling as though she would knew what to expect on the other side of a door labeled training, Videl walked in confidently with Erasa following close by.

On the other side she was greeted by several doors with signs over them that said GR and GRVR followed by the number 1 up through 4. Not knowing what anything meant, the went to the door labeled GRVR1 and walked up a flight of stairs. At the top they saw the room filled monitors and high definition video playing of an empty room. The room they were viewing, seemed to be the room where the explosions were coming from. There was also a control board that currently read 750G.

"That's weird. Why would they just be making explosions in an empty room?" Videl asked.

"Yeah and what does 750G mean?"

"Maybe that's how big the explosions would be. Well there is no one here. Maybe we should just turn it off." Videl said as she reached for the controls.

Before she could touch anything though, two people appeared on the screen looking worse for wear and winded. She froze where she was and both Erasa and Videl looked closer at the screen to try and figure out who the people were.

"The one guy looks like Gohan. Doesn't it?" Erasa asked quietly. She suddenly felt like she was sneaking around in a place she shouldn't be.

Videl said nothing in response though. She was captivated by what she was seeing. Both men on screen were breathing heavily, covered in scars, fresh cuts which were bleeding, had jet black hair, and were more muscular than any two people should be.

Suddenly they jumped at each other with surprising speed and savagery. She watched as they threw punch after punch in precisely practiced forms. This was martial arts as she had never seen before. _'How is this possible? I don't think even my dad could fight like this. This is like those phonies at the Cell Games! I can't believe it! How are they doing this?'_

Before she could process what she was seeing any further though, the man fighting with Gohan suddenly connected with a vicious kick to the side of Gohan's head, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the wall on the other side. When he landed, he tried to push himself up and then fell flat on his face again.

The other man laughed in triumph and walked over to the console in the room. After hitting some buttons on it they noticed the number on their screen drop to 1G. Once it did, Gohan got up easily even though he looked exhausted. He walked a few steps and staggered a little bit.

Over the sound system, they hear them talking to one another.

"Thanks for the work out Runt." The other man said with barely contained glee.

"Yeah, right. Gloat while you still can my Prince. I won't lose next time."

Vegeta laughed at him even more. "Maybe if you aren't distracted by thoughts of girls dancing in your head."

"Yeah. Or if Goten and Trunks piss you off too badly before."

"Well they will still be training until they can't stand anymore to make up for it!" Vegeta said emphatically. "Now get out and go find your girlfriends before they get into something they shouldn't be in."

"You mean like GR Viewing Room 1?" He sarcastically asked before looking towards where he knew a camera was located.

Videl and Erasa had no clue how he knew they were there, but apparently they had been caught snooping. He seemed to have recovered from his training session and slowly walked towards the door. The other man stood in the middle of the floor glaring at the camera.

"Let's get out of here before that guy decides to throw us out of here himself." Erasa said feeling that this wasn't a man she wanted to see angry. She pulled on Videl's arm who was glaring right back at the man on the screen. "Come on Videl. Let's go down and check on Gohan."

She pulled Videl down the stairs and pulled open the door. She nearly ran into Gohan in her effort to get out of the room.

"Lost?" Gohan sarcastically asked with a smirk on his face when they appeared.

Erasa just stood there opened mouthed staring at Gohan's sweat covered torso, so Videl chimed in, attempting to appear unashamed by her intruding. "We heard explosions and came down to check on everything. Is that how you always train?"

"Pretty much." He said nonchalantly before changing gears. "Let me get cleaned up. I need to get all this stuff off me."

Gohan hadn't anticipated them seeing him without a shirt on, and certainly not while he was training with Vegeta, but there was nothing he could do about it now. The longer Erasa stared at him like that, though, the more uncomfortable he was feeling. He could feel his face heating up so he quickly turned and started to move towards his room.

The girls made their way back to Videl's room more slowly. Erasa was dying to talk about what she just saw. "Can you believe it? I didn't think it was possible for Gohan to get any hotter! Oh my god, he is incredible."

Videl had watched Gohan walk away and let her eyes drift over his well defined back. She had a fluttery feeling in her stomach. Her response to Erasa was automatic and breathless. "Yeah..."

"So," Erasa started, "still going to tell me you aren't interested in Gohan now?"

That snapped Videl out of it immediately. "Erasa! Come on. Would you stop it already? I'm not interested in Gohan and I won't ever be!"

"OK fine. I was just playing anyway." Erasa said as they walked in Videl's room and they both flopped down on the bed. "Tell me what happened today anyway. How did you end up here? Gohan was pretty vague about it."

Videl thought about it and decided her best friend deserved to know. So she started to tell her everything she could remember about the day while they waited for Gohan.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A knock at the door woke both girls up. Without realizing it, they had both fallen asleep while talking. Videl, annoyed that she was awaken so early on vacation, got up and answered the door. She pulled it open sharply and was momentarily blinded by the light that spilled in from the hallway. She had been having a joyous dream, wherein she was flying hand in hand with a strong, dark haired individual. The dream was being forgotten rapidly, though. She glared at the tall figure that had interrupted her blissful dreams.

"What is your problem?" She said groggily and half in a daze.

Gohan looked down at her, amused that she was so disheveled. "Well I let the two of you sleep through breakfast, but I didn't think you would thank me for letting you sleep through lunch too."

"Lunch? What time is?" She nearly shouted.

"11:23."

"Gohan?" Erasa's sleep voice floated over to them. Gohan peeked around Videl at Erasa who was just starting to sit up on the bed and was rubbing her eyes sleepily. She yawned widely and asked, "What time is it?"

Erasa's face started to warm up as she started to realize how disheveled she probably looked with having slept in her clothes and makeup. She couldn't believe Gohan was seeing her looking so messed up. He smiled widely at how out of it the two of them seemed to be as he said, "11:23 Erasa. How late did you two stay up?"

"I have no clue. I thought it was still really early when you woke us up. Let us get ready and we'll be out for lunch in a little bit." Videl said. She could tell Erasa was hating the fact that anyone was seeing her before she got a chance to clean herself up.

"Of course. When you are ready just go down this way", Gohan said while pointing down the hall, "and you'll see an archway that leads to the room where we will all be eating."

"Thanks." Videl said as she closed the door and turned to her best friend.

"Why did it have to be Gohan?" Erasa whined as she threw herself back on Videl's bed.

"Whatever. You always look fantastic. I'm the one who looks like crap," Videl said as she walked in front of the mirror in her room. She quickly amended, "Not that I care anyway."

"Well I'm not going to let it happen again. I'm going next door to get ready for the day," she said bouncing to her feet and out of the room.

The two of them met back in the hallway twenty minutes later and walked to lunch together. They walked in and saw the four boys at the table devouring an impossible amount of food, while the two women picked at their plates and sipped at their tea.

Spotting the two girls standing at the entrance to the dining room, Bulma said, "Good morning Videl! And you must be Erasa. I'm sorry we didn't get to meet last night. I'm Bulma."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Briefs," Erasa said so nervous she could barely get the words out.

"Please call me Bulma," she said trying to put her at ease. "Videl, since you only briefly met the boys, I'll introduce the both of you to our family."

She got up and stepped closer to the girls and gestured to the table. Chichi stopped and stood up, but the four boys continued eating without stopping.

"This is Chichi, Gohan's mother. And the three being rude that you don't know on the other side are Gohan's brother Goten. My son Trunks and my husband Vegeta," she said gesturing to each of them in turn.

"Gohan wasn't kidding when he said it crazy to see all four of them eating together," Videl said with an amused smile.

Vegeta shot a quick glare at Videl, but kept eating. Chichi laughed at the joke. "It's good to finally meet both of you. Would either of you like anything to eat?"

"Yes please," Erasa said meekly. Both she and Videl were starving now that they were actually awake. Neither of them had eaten since lunch the day before.

While Chichi was putting together plates for them, the girls sat down at the table between Bulma and Chichi's seats. Rather than stare openly at the spectacle before them, they turned their attention to the TV in the room. It was on the news and the national news was being covered.

"...has just been released to the public of the mass shooting which took place months ago. It is still unexplained how the assailants were apprehended and the victims were moved to nearby Saint Bennie's Hospital. We want to warn our viewers that the footage may be disturbing."

The screen changed from the newscaster to crystal clear, color, slow motion, security footage of a small sedan driving rapidly down a road. The car suddenly jerked to a stop when a bright light flashed in front of it. One of the passengers flew threw the windshield and seemed to fall out of the air next to the light, which then moved around the car. Even in slow motion, it just looked like a bright blur.

The light then moved up the sidewalk and out of shot, taking one of the victims with it. Barely a second later, it returned again and again, until all of the victims were gone.

"As of yet, no one has been able to explain this strange phenomenon. The police has released the video to different organizations to find be able to find any leads..." Bulma switched the TV off then.

"We don't need to watch stuff like that during lunch," she said while subtly shooting a look at Gohan. He glanced back at her gratefully.

Unfortunately, Videl noticed. She was suddenly remembering that day months ago when Gohan came to school covered in blood. 'OK there is something going on here. Gohan said he was there helping victims that day but it looks like everything was taken care of by that light. He's hiding something big. This goes beyond what I saw on that roof! Well, enough beating around the bush. He is going to tell me. It looks like his family is in on it too. They are **all** hiding something.'

They sat in relative quiet after that. Vegeta finished eating first and left without a word, wanting to get back to training. Trunks and Goten ran off to play. When the rest of them were done eating, Bulma broke the silence. "So what are your plans for today?"

"We haven't actually talked about it yet. What do you guys want to do?" Gohan asked his guests.

"Well it's only the start of our vacation, why don't we take it easy today?" Erasa offered.

'Perfect! More time to get Gohan to talk about what I just saw!' Videl thought. So she shrugged and casually said, "That's fine."

"OK, ummm. There is a game room, a heated indoor pool, a movie theater, and..."

Erasa interrupted him, "Sounds good. Let's hit them all."

Something suddenly occurred to Videl. "Well, before we do anything, I should probably go home and get some clothes at least. Thanks for letting me wear some of yours Chichi."

"No problem sweetheart." Chichi said, loving how polite this girl seemed. 'I really need to ask Gohan which one of these girls he likes. I hope it's her. She's perfect for him!'

"I actually thought of that," Bulma announced. "I sent some people out to pick up some clothes for you. They should be in the dressers in your room."

"What?" Videl was caught off guard. "Um, well...thanks Bulma."

"No problem Videl. Alright kids, go on and get ready for your day. We will make sure this gets cleaned up." Bulma said shooing them away.

Twenty minutes later, the three teens met outside of Erasa's room. Gohan led them to a large domed room. The the top half of the dome was glass and the pool area appeared to have been designed to look like a natural spring.

"Wow! It's beautiful Gohan." Erasa thrilled. She took her wrap and sarong off, throwing them in a chair as she ran by it. Without stopping she dove into the pool.

Gohan chuckled as he watched her go. Videl, stripped down and jumped in after her friend. As Gohan neared the pool, though, his anxiety grew. _'Why did I bring up the pool? There are a million other things we could have done here.'_

He sighed deeply before making up his mind. _'I might as well get this over with.'_

He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off in one motion and jumped into the pool as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, it wasn't fast enough. When he surfaced he saw both Videl and Erasa openly staring at him.

There wasn't a single coherent thought going through Erasa's head at that moment. Videl on the other hand had sharper eyes and noticed that, not only did he have a few more small scars here and there on his body, he also had a very large scar on his right shoulder. It was huge. _'That had to have been a horrible injury. With the technology that they have here, there shouldn't have been any scar at all. Why won't he tell us? What_ else _is he hiding? I need to find a chance to talk to him about this!'_


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The days passed with them having fun and enjoying each other's company. Gohan showed them around different parts of the complex every day. The three friends grew closer to each other. Despite Gohan's worries, both girls fit in perfectly with his family and no one seemed to be trying to interrogate either of his friends.

What he didn't know, was the Videl was looking for any opportunity to ask Gohan about the things she had been putting together in her head. Nearly a week later, things lined up perfectly for her to make her move. Erasa had fallen asleep next to the pool after swimming all morning and then eating lunch in her chair. Gohan and Videl were leaning back idly chatting about nothing.

"So..." Videl started, "do you remember that news story about that shooting in Satan City?"

Gohan was instantly on edge. "Yes."

"That was the same thing you helped with, right? You said you helped get people to the hospital remember?" She prodded.

"Was it?" Gohan couldn't see a way out of this and he was frantically trying to think of one.

"Yes it was Gohan. What do you know about that light thing? I saw you and Bulma look at each other after she turned it off. Is it some experiment you guys are working on? I know you know something about what happened!" Videl had started off slow and then brought the hammer down. Firing off questions one after the other.

"No Videl. You have the wrong idea. I mean...I helped some of the victims that were on a different street. That's all. I have no clue what that light was."

"Why are you lying to me about this?" Videl challenged.

"I'm not! Why would I lie about anything? I have no clue what that light was," he said emphatically. He felt horrible about lying to one of this best friends, but this was about protecting more than just him. _'I'm sorry Videl...No one will never accept me if they found out what I really am. People would come and try to take Goten and Trunks away. We could never be normal again! She_ can't _find out about this.'_

Videl looked into her friends eyes and gave in. She wasn't sure she believed him, but he was her friend. She didn't know why anyone would lie about stopping criminals and saving people's lives. "OK, Gohan. I believe you. I'm sorry I attacked you just now."

Gohan sighed in relief and felt even more guilty. He was lying to someone he loved and she was sitting next to him, apologizing for confronting him with her very accurate deduction. He couldn't go back now though. "It's OK. Don't worry about it Videl."

She put her hand on his and he looked up at her. She looked at him for a heartbeat and said, "I'm serious Gohan. I am sorry. You're my friend and I shouldn't have done that to you."

He processed that for a moment, not sure what to say. ' _No. I can no lose her over this. Not now, not ever.'_

He gave her a sad smile. "Thanks Videl. So, while Erasa is asleep, did you want to do some training?"

"Yes! Let's go right now!" Videl was unbelievably happy at that moment.

Gohan laughed at her enthusiasm. "Get changed and meet me in front of GR2."

Not even five minutes later, Videl was in front of the door, bouncing up and down with excitement. Gohan walked up and decided he need get Videl to calm down before he took her in.

"Before we go in Videl I just want to talk to you for a second. I know you have been training for most of your life, but I need you to be careful in here. It can be very dangerous if you don't take it seriously."

"Gohan! Let's go!" Videl wouldn't let Gohan dampen her spirits.

"OK, but we are going to take it slow." Gohan said realizing it was pointless.

They walked in and Gohan had her take a wide stance in preparation. Then he turned the gravity up to 2 times normal Earth's gravity. Videl felt her body suddenly go from 90 pounds up to 180 pounds. Her legs nearly buckled under the pull. She was able to keep herself upright though.

Gohan took her through a slow progression of easy warm ups. Normally, they wouldn't have presented her with any challenge at all. With the increased gravity, though, she was having to work incredibly hard.

Ten minutes after starting the workout, an explosion rocked the building, knocking Videl off of her feet. Gohan walked over to the control panel and turned the simulation off. Then he walked over to Videl and helped her up just as the door burst open.

" _ **Out!**_ " Vegeta shouted as he charged into the room, his hair a pale gold.

"Vegeta, what'd you do?" Gohan asked not realizing how angry Vegeta was.

"Get out of here and take care of those boys before I do! I am training right now!" He said moving to the control panel. He set it for 1000 times Earth's gravity. Before he could initiate, though, Gohan grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Vegeta wait for me to get Videl out of here. That will kill her!"

"I told you to get _**out!**_ " Vegeta yelled smacking Gohan across the room.

"Hey freak!" Videl yelled jumping to her feet, all exhaustion forgotten.

She lunged forward, throwing her fist at Vegeta's face. He made no move to stop it and let it connect with the left side of his face. She held it there for a second before the pain registered. She pulled her hand back. She wasn't sure how many bones broke, but she felt certain something broke in her hand or wrist.

Before anything else could happen a bright golden light filled the room. She saw the light smash into Vegeta, sending him flying. Vegeta disappeared and seemed to be replaced by another light which stopped before it collided with the wall. The two lights seemed to be causing shock waves and explosions all around the room. Every shock wave seemed to be accompanied by a small splatter of blood sprayed in a random direction.

As Videl watched the two lights go at it, her eyes began to adjust and she was starting to see things in the light. It looked as though the lights were actually people. The longer she looked the better she could see the people. _'Gohan? And Vegeta? They_ are _the lights?'_

She started to get more afraid the more she could see. Gohan was going at Vegeta with such anger and intensity it seemed as though she should be burned by it. Gohan's face was twisted to the point that it was unrecognizable. He was punching, kicking, elbowing, kneeing, and grappling so fast and viciously that Vegeta couldn't even defend himself. With each strike that landed Vegeta grew more and more bloody, until finally his hair faded back to black.

Before Gohan could go back at him though, two more lights flew into the room. The new lights grabbed Gohan by the stomach and neck and tried to hold him back. Even so, he was moving closer and closer to his target. He wouldn't attack the new arrivals, but he wasn't letting them stop him either.

"Gohan stop! You are killing him!" Trunks shouted trying to pull him back by his neck.

"Leave dad alone Gohan!" Goten was shouting while pushing with everything he had against Gohan's stomach.

Gohan still didn't look like himself. He was so incredibly angry. Videl couldn't take seeing him like that. She ran over and put her good hand on Gohan's chest. "Gohan please stop!"

Gohan stilled instantly. He looked down at Videl who had tears in her eyes that had nothing to do with the pain in her hand. He could see she was terrified of him. He hated himself for it.

His hair changed back to black in an instant and he was filled with self loathing. "Videl, I am so sorry."

She stood there unmoving, staring up at him. She still had tears in her eyes, but they were rapidly turning into angry tears. She just didn't know what to say. _'He lied to me. He lied to me and let_ me apologize _to_ him _!'_

"Trunks, Goten, get him to a healing tank. Then go get someone and tell them what happened. I need to help Videl." Gohan instructed his two brothers.

Without being told twice, they flashed over to Vegeta and whisked him out of the room. Gohan turned his attention back to Videl, who still hadn't moved. "Videl, I..."

"Get away from me!" Videl shouted at him, pulling away as quickly as possible. "You lied to me! You lied right to my face and I trusted you!"

"I know. I'm..."

"How could you do that to me? Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to trust anyone? Do you have any idea how many people I actually trust?" The tears were streaming down her face faster and faster.

"No Videl. I know I messed up! I am so sorry. I didn't just do it for me. Please believe me!" Gohan was panicking. He could tell he was losing her and didn't know how to fix it or what to say.

" _Believe_ you? Are you kidding me? How do you expect me to trust you now?"

"Videl please..."

"No Gohan! I am leaving here right now! You are not my friend and maybe you never were. Friends don't lie to each other! Don't ever talk to me again! Goodbye." And with that she turned out of the room. The adrenaline keeping the pain in her hand at bay.

Gohan stood there watching her go. He was devastated. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. He felt empty and cold. He needed to do something, but didn't know what. He just stood frozen in place. He wanted to believe that it had all been just his imagination. That he had fallen asleep by the pool with his two best friends and was just having a nightmare.

He wasn't sure how long he stood there before Chichi came in looking upset. "Gohan?"

She walked up to him and cupped his face causing him to look down at her. "Gohan what happened? The girls just left. Videl looked really upset."

"I messed up." Tears were starting to bud in his eyes. "I messed up _so_ bad."

"Did Videl hurt her hand training in here with you?" Chichi gently prodded.

"No. She asked me about saving those people a few months ago. I didn't know what else to do! I told her it wasn't me."

"Gohan..."

"But then she got her and I got so angry. She saw what I am. She saw what we are. Me, Vegeta, the boys. She saw all of us transformed. She saw what a monster I really am. You should have seen her face. She was terrified." Gohan dropped to the ground and put his face in his hands. Chichi sat down next to him and put her arm around him, rubbing his back gently.

"It'll be OK Gohan." She cooed trying to soothe him.

"What am I supposed to do?" He was begging her for an answer.

"I don't know Gohan."

"Why did this have to happen? Why do I have hide what I am? _Why_ can't I _just_ _be normal_?"

Chichi felt horrible for her son. She felt especially horrible since he was in this situation because she had forced him into school. She wanted him to make friends, knowing they would never fully understand him. She had no way of fixing it now though. She couldn't fix it. So she just sat there in the ruined GR, holding her son.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Eventually, Gohan made his way out of the GR. He knew he had to apologize to the boys first. While they had seen him and Vegeta going at it before, neither had seen it get that bad. He knew they were both really upset to see them fighting like that and he needed to make it right.

He found them, along with Bulma sitting near one of the healing takes. He walked in and noticed Vegeta floating in the tank. He quickly glanced at the readout and saw that Vegeta would be out in about 20 minutes. _'I guess it looked worse than it was. He can't have been in there for longer than 30 minutes already.'_

He looked over and sighed when he noticed the boys eyeing him wearily. _'OK. Time to make things right with them.'_

Before he could say anything, his sigh alerted Bulma to his presence. She had been handling working on her computer and hadn't noticed his entrance. While this wasn't the first time that either Gohan or Vegeta had ended up in here after a fight, she could tell that this one was different. She had never seen Goten and Trunks so upset about one of their matches.

"Gohan?" She put her computer down and walked over to him. "What happened sweetie? The boys came and got us and said that you were trying to kill Vegeta?"

She didn't say it in an angry way. If anything she sounded incredibly understanding. She knew how difficult Vegeta could be when he wanted to be. She knew how frustrating he was to deal with. She also knew, that Gohan wasn't the type to just go off on anyone without a reason. She could tell by the remorseful look on his face that Gohan was upset by the whole situation.

"I was in one of the GRs with Videl. She asked me to train her. I guess the boys and Vegeta were trying in GR1 when something went wrong. He came over and told us he was taking over. Things escalated and Videl tried to punch Vegeta after he hit me. She broke her hand and I guess...I guess I just snapped. I know I overreacted. I just don't know what came over me. Seeing her hurt and knowing Vegeta let it happen, I lost it! I didn't even notice the boys trying to hold me back from him!"

He took a deep breath knowing the most painful part of the story was to come.

"Videl and Erasa left. Videl told me," he paused and sighed deeply, "she told me she couldn't trust me and that we weren't friends anymore."

Gohan looked at Bulma then. He knew he shouldn't be wallowing in his own sadness after what he did to her husband and the potential backlash that bringing two outsiders there could cause. "Bulma I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this happened. I'm sorry for what I did to Vegeta. I should have never brought the girls here. I'm sorry for any problems bringing them here might cause."

Bulma pulled Gohan into a tight hug. "It's OK Gohan. Don't worry it's OK."

She held him at arms length and said, "You don't have to apologize to me for what happened to Vegeta. He's a big boy. He can take care of himself. He shouldn't have tried to push you out of there anyway. There are two other rooms he could have used. So don't worry about him.

"As far as being sorry about the girls, don't worry about that. I'm sure everything will work out just fine. You are one of the best people I know. They'll realize that sooner or later." She pulled him back in again, trying to soothe him.

"I'm sorry this happened to you. But everything will work out in the end. I _promise._ " She said emphatically.

"Thanks Bulma." He then turned his attention to Trunks and Goten who were sitting on the floor in front of the healing tank. He took a hesitant step closer to them and sat down on the ground a couple of feet from them. "Guys, I'm sorry you had to see that. I just got really upset when Vegeta hurt Videl like that. She isn't like us. She's fragile and can't bounce back from getting hurt as easily. I just got really protective of her."

They were all quiet for a moment before Trunks asked, "Is she going to be OK? I didn't know she got hurt."

"Yeah she was real pretty. She was so nice and played with us. I liked her being here. Maybe she can come back if we say we are sorry we hurt her!" Goten said not realizing he didn't need to be sorry or that Gohan was the one who had hurt her in a way not easily healed.

Gohan tried not to let the pain of losing Videl's friendship show on his face, but it wasn't easy. He tried to cover it with a small joke. "She'll be OK Trunks. You know how hard your dad's head is."

Trunks gave him a little smirk before Gohan continued. "And I liked her being here too, Goten. But I don't think we are going to get to see Videl for awhile. Don't worry though. You'll always have me to play with. Right guys?"

"Yeah." Trunks and Goten said at the same time, both still sounding a little upset.

"And I promise boys, I'll never let you see me get that mad at Vegeta again. OK?"

"Promise?" Trunks asked.

"I promise," he said as he held his arms out to collect them both into a hug. The boys leapt into his arms and hugged him tightly back. He loved his brothers. He loved that they looked up to him and trusted him completely. He never wanted to mess up that bond no matter what.

He let them go and said, "OK guys. I've gotta go do some things. You stay here and make sure Vegeta stays out of trouble."

They smiled at him and glanced at Vegeta. Trunks puffed up his chest and said, "Don't worry Gohan. We got this."

Gohan left the room and began to wander. He didn't really have anything specific to do, he just needed to be alone and think. He didn't know where to go or what to do now, so he meandered aimlessly through the halls. He tried thinking about what he could have done or what he could do now to fix it. He really wanted to talk to Videl. He felt if she would just listen to him he could explain himself. ' _But what would I even say to her?'_

Gohan sighed. He was standing outside, looking up at the main dome of the Capsule Corporation. He stood there staring at the building for a moment before slowly rising in the air. Higher and higher he went and gently set himself down on top of the building. He dropped down on his back and laid there, with his hands behind his head, looking up at the stars. Bulma had long ago figured out a way to limit light pollution. As a result, even in a big city such as West city, you could see the stars. They may not have been as bright or as numerous as they were out on Mount Paozu hundreds of miles from the nearest town, but it was still beautiful.

'What am I going to do? To make her understand why I lied, I would have to explain how I am able to do what I can do. I'd have to tell her all about being a Saiyan. I'd have to tell her about my dad and Vegeta and the boys. They all had trouble believing my grandpa was the Ox King. How is Videl going to believe that my dad was an alien?

'Even if she did believe me, what's to stop her from telling her dad? He isn't going to want to give up his fame as the Destroyer of Cell and will probably instantly report it to the government. And because it's not just some wack job telling them about an alien encounter, they'll take it seriously and they'll come for us...'

Gohan squeezed his hair out of frustration and sighed angrily. _'Why couldn't you have just waiting a few more minutes Vegeta? Everything was going fine before you had to storm in there like that! Mom wanted me to have friends that weren't just "the gang". Well now things are worse. Now I still won't have any friends other than "the gang" and I have people I actually care about hating me!'_

Tears slowly spilled over and out of the corner of his eyes. _'Maybe Videl will cool off in a couple of days and I can try and talk to her then. I just wish things were different...'_

* * *

Hundreds of miles away Videl and Erasa were landing at the Satan mansion. They grabbed their stuff and slowly left the vehicle. Erasa glanced at her friend, noting the dried tears and red puffiness around the girl's eyes. They silence ruled the entire five hour flight back. Erasa didn't even know why they had left. Videl just ran to Erasa in tears, asked her if she brought her jetcopter and told her to pack her stuff because they were leaving.

Seeing her friend the way she was, she didn't argue or ask questions at first. She grabbed her stuff as quickly as she could and they made their way outside. Videl was walking so fast, Erasa practicality had to run to keep up with her. Once they were outside they took off. Erasa had tried to ask what happened, but Videl just told her she didn't want to talk about it and immediately looked out the window and away from Erasa.

Even so, Erasa could still see the tears sliding down Videl's face. So she decided to push her curiosity down until they got back to Videl's. But now Erasa couldn't take it anymore. She had to know what happened to her friend and why they left Capsule Corp. without even saying goodbye to Gohan or his family.

"Videl," she started gently after they arrived in Videl's room, "are you ready to tell me what happened now?"

Videl stopped and stood there with her back to Erasa for a minute, deciding on what to do. Suddenly, she lashed out and punched her wall with her good hand. "Ugh! I hate that guy!"

"Who? That Vegeta guy?"

Videl continued as if she hadn't heard Erasa at all. "He's a liar and a jerk and a psycho. You should have seen him! And then after he's all like 'trust me Videl'. Trust him! How am I supposed to trust someone who lies about everything?"

"Who are you even talking about, Videl?"

"Gohan! Haven't you been listening?"

"What'd he do? You gotta give me something. I have _no_ clue what happened."

Videl took a deep breath and started pacing around the room. "I asked him about that news story with the light that stopped the shooting and saved everyone. He said he had no clue what it was. Then we go to that GR room we saw before and that Vegeta guy friends out and starts fighting us! All of a sudden the light shows up and I realized that _it was Gohan_! He _lied_ right to my face about it! Then he goes all ballistic and starts killing that guy, who can also surround himself with light! Then his brothers come _flying_ in surrounded by light and try to hold him back. He was going to _murder_ Vegeta! Finally, I stepped in and told him to stop and he snaps out of it. He's a _psycho_! I can't believe I..."

She paused, clenching her fist angrily. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she said, "I can't believe I trusted him."

Erasa didn't know what to say or think. She really liked Gohan and wasn't there to see what Videl saw. But she also knew what trust meant to Videl. Videl had been Erasa's best friend since they were four years old. They had stuck together through everything. All she could do was say, "I'm sorry Videl."

Videl let out a shaky breath. "My hand hurts. I think I need to go to the hospital."

"Come on. I'll take you."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Gohan spent the entire break trying to come up with a way to approach Videl. He knew he had to apologize but, beyond that, he was at a loss. He needed a little longer to think. Despite his best efforts, though, he couldn't convince his mom that he shouldn't go back to school yet. He even entertained the idea of telling his mom that his secret might be out now that Videl had learned the truth and was angry with him. No matter what had happened though, he didn't want to think poorly of Videl. He especially didn't want his mom to have any negative thoughts about her. After all, it was his fault he was in the situation he was in, not hers.

As a result, Monday morning found Gohan standing in front of the school with some trepidation. He could go home and face his mother's wrath, or he could go in and face his friends' anger. Finally, he decided he'd have to face the music sooner or later. He took a deep breath and pushed opened the door. No one seemed to be looking at him any differently. The girls continued to give him flirtatious looks and the guys just ignored him.

'Looks like I was right to trust Videl. It doesn't look like she told anyone,' Gohan thought, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. 'Maybe she just needed the weekend to cool off and she will accept my apology!'

He perked up a little bit and moved to his homeroom with a little more enthusiasm than he felt just minutes before. When he entered the classroom and looked up to where his friends sat, his face fell instantly. Videl glanced up when Gohan walked in the door and when she saw him, she glared forcefully at him. Videl was definitely still angry with him.

'Well, I'd better apologize now. "Quick like a bandage,"' Gohan thought without humor as he walked up to his usual seat.

As he placed his stuff down on his desk, he looked at Videl. "Videl, I want to..."

"Save it Gohan. There is nothing you can say to make up for lying to me," she said, cutting him off.

"But if I could just tell you I'm sor..."

"Shut up Gohan! I don't want to hear that word out of your lying face."

A few students heard her outburst and turned to look at the exchange. Gohan flushed from embarrassment as a result of Videl's chastisement and the unwelcome attention it brought him. He decided he wasn't getting anywhere now. He had to give her more time. Without saying another word he took his seat and did his best to ignore the looks he was getting from his classmates.

The day passed incredibly slowly for Sharpner, Erasa, and Videl after that. It was especially slow for Gohan. Not only was the class incredibly boring because he had already learned all of the information being covered, but he could feel the tension between his friends and him.

When they were finally dismissed for their lunch break, Gohan was beginning to feel like the situation was hopeless. Even though he wasn't really hungry, he left to go down to his usual lunch spot without any enthusiasm. He stopped to drop his things off at his locker and grab his lunch, moving slowly as he tried to ignore the whispers that sprang up around him. He got to the spot where he normally sat with his three best friends. He sighed heavily as he sat down. As he sat there feeling alone and abandoned, his appetite left him entirely. He played with the capsule containing his lunch and leaned back against the tree.

A few minutes later, Gohan heard a footsteps approach and stop a few feet away.

"What no 12 course meal for lunch today?" He heard a very familiar voice playfully tease.

He opened his eyes hesitantly, unsure of what was about to be unleashed on him. When he was finally able to focus on the person who spoke standing next to him he realized it was Erasa. Videl and Sharpner weren't around, but Gohan was hopefully he hadn't lost at least one friend.

"Hey Erasa." Gohan started, feeling relief that she was there at all.

She sat down next to him and quietly said, "Gohan, I'm really sorry about this morning. And about leaving without saying 'thank you' this weekend."

"It's OK. I understand. I'm sorry for what happened and that you had to leave."

Erasa felt the need to explain. She leaned in a little closer so she wouldn't be overheard. "Videl doesn't trust easily. She's had too many people try to use her for her popularity. She's had guys she had crushes on lie to her to get her to go out with them just so they could say they dated Hercule's daughter. She's had people try to be her friend just so they could dig up dirt on her to sell to tabloids. She's even had teachers here offer her good grades in exchange for some face time with her dad."

Gohan sat there feeling worse and worse for having broken that trust. He was starting to think that it was going to take a lot longer for Videl to cool off than he originally assumed.

"I don't know why you lied about," she paused to look around at who was within earshot, "what you lied about, but you really shouldn't have. If you don't want to, or can't, tell us about something, just say that. I know Videl is a little...intense...sometimes. But she is also incredibly loyal. She isn't going to abandon you just because you won't tell her something."

She chuckled before continuing, "Not that she'll drop it either. But still, just don't lie to her especially."

"OK. I promise."

"Great! Now where's that lunch of yours? I didn't have time to pack anything and don't feel like eating school food."

Gohan laughed, pulled his capsulized lunch out of his pocket and threw it down, letting it expand out in front of them. "Help yourself."

Videl and Sharpner showed up a moment later with school lunches in hand. "Aww Erasa! How come he always lets you eat his food?"

"Because _I'm_ special. That's why."

* * *

Five minutes before the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch period, the group got up to get ready for their next class. Videl, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, put her hand out to stop Gohan. "Actually guys, why don't you go ahead. We'll catch up."

Sharpner and Erasa looked back at Videl before exchanging a worried glance with each other. While Sharpner didn't know what happened to get Videl so angry, he did know that she wasn't one to let something go easily. Erasa finally spoke up, "Be nice you two."

They scampered off to let them talk, hoping they'd bury the hatchet. Videl waited, making sure that they actually went into the school before she turned to Gohan. She glared at him long enough for him to start to feel uncomfortable.

"You tried to say you were sorry to me this morning. If you really are sorry and aren't the liar I think you are right now, you are going to stick to your word."

"My...my word?"

"You said you were going to teach me to do what you do. To fight, move fast, and fly like you do. Not to mention be practically invisible. Or was that just another lie?"

"No. No of course not," Gohan said flabbergasted. He didn't think Videl would ever want to be around him again, let alone be secretly trained in martial arts by him.

"Then when I'll be at your house on Friday right after school. Don't make me wait."

She started to walk away from him but Gohan felt like he needed to say something to her. Gohan was just happy that she seemed to be giving him a second chance. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Thank you Videl!"

She stopped and turned around to look at him. She didn't glare at him, she just looked at him thoughtfully as she considered the boy in front of her. He was so grateful she still wanted to be around him. It was so clear on his face. She couldn't control the responding smile that formed on her face.

"If you really are sorry, maybe I can trust you again eventually." Her face hardened as she sternly added, "Just don't lie to me again Gohan."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

"Gohan!" Bulma shouted at him while he was thinking about how to train Videl and simultaneously earn her trust back. Gohan jumped a little and she teased him. "Welcome back from lala land blondie."

Gohan had begun training by staying in his second transformation whenever he was home. He was working to make it feel natural, letting his body get used to the increased power, similar to how he had trained with his dad before the Cell games.

"Bulma? Sorry I didn't even hear you walk up. What can I help you with?"

"Actually, I wanted to show you my latest invention. It's something that is going to change the world almost as much as my dad did with the capsule! Follow me to the lab."

They walked down the corridor in silence for a minute before Bulma tried to talk to him about how he felt about everything that happened over the weekend. She didn't get many chances to do it when his mother wasn't around; when he would actually let his feelings out a little bit. "Gohan, I hope you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Of course."

"It's just that, we haven't really gotten a chance to talk about what happened with the girls this weekend and I just want to make sure you're OK. Did you want to tell me what happened? You seemed pretty upset this weekend and when you left for school on Monday."

Gohan stopped in the hallway and faced Bulma fully with a surprised look on his face. "Yeah, I was. But I think everything will be OK soon. I lied to Videl about it being me who stopped that shooting in the city and she found out when Vegeta and I went at it. She was really upset. I know it scared her too. Seeing us go at it like that, seeing what I'm capable of, seeing what a monster I am."

Bulma rolled her eyes. She loved Gohan and couldn't believe he would think that way about himself. He definitely didn't get that from his father who was always so self assured. "Gohan, there is nothing wrong with you. You are not a monster. You are the sweetest boy I have ever met and I'm sure Videl will see that soon."

She tried to lighten the mood with a joke and a playful shove. "Besides, I'm sure if Videl doesn't see it, Erasa would be happy to be your girlfriend. She is so cute. They both are really."

Gohan turned red and bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on Bulma."

Smiling, she reached up and put her hand on his arm and squeezed reassuringly. "Just remember you are never alone. You will always have us to support you."

"I know. Thanks Bulma."

"No problem sweetie. Now come on. I really do want to show you my newest creation." She said as she started walking again.

When she opened the door Gohan was met by the sound of buzzing as if he were standing near a power transmission substation.

"What is that?" Gohan nearly shouted.

"It's my prototype for the worlds first self sustaining, zero byproduct, fission/fusion reactor!"

Gohan was stunned. He knew Bulma was smart, a lot smarter than him, but he had no clue such a thing could ever exist. He didn't even know she was working on someone like this. She typically included him on all of her plans. He turned to her with is mouth open and closing and his eyes wide. He wanted to say _something_ but he had no clue what he even could say in the face of such brilliance.

"Curious huh?"

Gohan just nodded his head dumbly which made Bulma giggle like a school girl out of excitement. "Well, since I don't think you're mind is working very well right now, I'll just give you the overview. You feed it with a single hydrogen atom. That atom goes through the process of fission with a quick kick start, courtesy of a simulated blast, similar to one of yours. After that, the bits of the atom that are left, are put through the fusion process, courtesy of the power supplied by the previous fission process and just keeps looping around. Because there is so much power generated by both the fusion and fission processes, what is used to separate and combine only saps a very small fraction of the power generated. The overage is then converted into usable electricity.

"This little baby right here could power the entire Ox Kingdom for the foreseeable future."

"Bulma, this is incredible!"

"I know," she said feeling cocky. "Over the past few years there has been a new company or two that have been rolling out similar tech as us. Always right before us or right at the same time as us. There is no way they are going to be able to compete with this bad boy, though."

"Without a doubt! You weren't kidding. This is literally going to change the world as much as the capsule did. If not more!"

Bulma held her hands up to calm him down a bit. "Now there is still a lot of testing to do, months in fact. And now that it's online, I've discovered a number of inefficiencies that I'd like to correct before it goes into production. So before I do anything else, I'm going to keep this running for the next six months. If there are any problems with it, I want to know about them now and not after we deploy it and it vaporizes a city."

"So, I'm sure you've thought of this, but what's to keep it from vaporizing Capsule Corp and us along with it?" Gohan asked, more concerned about his family than himself.

"I have a lot of safety measures in place. The biggest of which are a system that will stop the atom or atom particles from being pushed into the next phase if the equipment detects a potential breach. And then the other is this room. You'll notice it isn't my normal lab. This one is in a rarely used lab that I've modified, a lot. Basically, there are ten containment systems in the event of an explosion. The first through the fourth would have to fail for us to even feel it happen. The fifth through the the seventh would have to fail for the building to take any damage at all. And the last three would have to fail for there to be any danger to anyone outside the compound.

"Of course if that happens, I imagine everyone but you and Vegeta would be incinerated instantly, and you two would probably have a really bad sunburn!" She finished with a wink.

Gohan didn't look like he thought that was funny at all and was glaring at his mother figure.

"Stop being so paranoid Gohan! You'd think you didn't trust me. I just build a reactor that can give free, cleanly generated electricity for the entire planet! I think I'm smart enough to build the safety precautions correctly. Come on! This isn't the first time I've done something on this scale. And, believe me, the containment systems in and around this lab have been vigorously and thoroughly tested." She finished by crossing her arms and glaring right back at him.

Gohan gave in and held his hands up in surrender. "You're right! I'm sorry. You are completely right. I have never doubted you before, even when you had nothing to work with and what you did have was alien parts. Why should I start now?"

He smiled at Bulma and she relaxed her glare and gave him a playful punch in the arm before they walked out of the room, engaging all the monitoring and containment systems as they went.

After they walked out Gohan looked at Bulma. He wasn't particularly worried about Bulma saying anything, but he just wanted to make sure.

"By the way," he started, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone what we talked about before."

"You mean about my new reactor?" She asked with a wink. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me. Just make sure you come and talk to me about things that bother you. I miss you when you just mope around the house!"

"Of course. Thanks for talking to me and showing me the reactor. I actually do feel better now."

"That's what I'm here for! Well that and bandaging you and Vegeta up."

"Hey! We usually bandage ourselves up, thank you very much." Gohan said with false indignation.

"Yeah yeah. Well you'd better go find your playmate. No sense in wasting that blonde hair walking around the house. You look all dolled up with nowhere to go!" She flicked the blonde spike that always fell into his face.

Gohan laughed at her joke and took off in the direction of the Training Wing, where Vegeta was bound to be. He knew he needed let himself relax and blow off some steam or he would be too high strung to train himself, let alone someone else.

* * *

The end of the school day on Friday found the four friends standing around their lockers getting ready to part ways for the end of the day.

"So what're you guys up to this weekend?" Sharpner asked.

"I need to go to the mall and pick up a few things," Erasa answered lazily while filing her fingernails.

"Yeah right. A few things?" Sharpner asked sarcastically.

Erasa stopped what she was doing and looked at him acerbically, "Yeah...and?"

"'Rase you spend every weekend at the mall. I knew you were going to say "go to the mall' before you even opened your mouth."

"Yeah and what do you do with your weekends that is _so_ great?"

"Nothing!" He said feeling defensive now. "I was just joking. I actually need to go with you anyway."

Erasa rolled her eyes and noticed her best friend and her crush had been quiet during her exchange with Sharpner. "What are you guys up to?"

"Training," Videl responded instantly and vaguely.

Erasa smiled at her best friend and said, "Of course. What about you cutie?"

She stepped closer to Gohan, grabbed his hand and laced her fingers in with his. "Wanna come with me and save me from having to spend a few hours at the mall with Sharpner complaining and ruining it?"

Gohan blushed brightly and rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. "Sorry Erasa. I sort of made plans with...I mean to do some stuff around Capsule Corp. Maybe tomorrow?"

She frowned looking up at him, puckering her bottom lip out at him. "Awww. OK, I guess. Just let me know tomorrow if you can hang out. Come on Sharpner. Let's get make the most out of this."

She let go of Gohan and grabbed Sharpner's, pulling him out of the building.

"So I'm not good enough to hang out with now?" Sharpner started bickering before they were out of ear shot.

"That's right!"

"Well then maybe..." their voices faded away as they left the school.

Videl turned to Gohan. "Well let's get started then. Are we going back to Capsule Corp?"

"I thought it would be the best place for it, if that's OK with you."

"Wouldn't it be quicker to do it somewhere around here. It took us around three hours for Erasa and I to get to my house when we left the other day."

"Well yeah. It would actually be quicker if I...um...carried you," he cleared his throat. "It's just going to be a lot easier to train you if we use one of the GRs. The faster I can get your strength up, the easier it'll be to find your energy and use it to fly."

Despite herself, Videl smiled at what she was soon going to be able to do. Gohan had a way of getting under your skin and making you like him. She had been having to actively work to be upset with him and she could feel herself failing. She shook her head and sarcastically said, "Yes sensei."

Gohan laughed and Videl smiled wider. He turned and signaled for her to follow him while still chuckling. The ventured up to the school stairs, out onto the roof and then to the edge. Gohan took a deep breath and turned to his friend. His cheeks were tinted with a soft blush. Videl, realizing what was about to happen, started blushing herself. She tried to cover it up and said, "Well let's get a move on."

Gohan reached down and gently picked her up, one arm under her knees and the other supporting her back. He took off and slowly accelerated up to the top speed he was capable of without transforming. He needed to get home quickly though. Gohan's skin was tingling where it was coming into contact with hers. He refused to look down though. He could feel his heart beat pick up from the contact of having his friend so close. He was also hoping she wouldn't see him blushing and get mad at him for it.

Little did he know, Videl was having similar feelings and thoughts. She could hear his heart beat furiously against her ear as she was pressed into him by the g-forces. She was trying to fight the bright red blush that had overtaken her face, ears and neck. Not only that, but she was being forced to breathe in his scent. She couldn't quite identify what exactly it was, but she liked it a lot. So far she was hating everything about her first conscience fight with Gohan.

The thought that this wasn't her first time flying in Gohan's arms brought an entirely different feeling to Videl though. She was suddenly reminded of the fact that Gohan had saved her life just two weeks ago at almost this exact same time of day. _'He saved my life. Gohan, saved my life._ Twice! _He stopped me from being shot over and over again. Then took me to have injuries that would have left me crippled, healed.'_

She sighed and relaxed into her savior. _'Maybe I should take it easier on him. He really isn't a bad guy and I know he loves Erasa, Sharpner, and I. He didn't mean to hurt me or lie to me. Besides, he does make me feel safe and works hard to make me happy. Maybe I should just let myself enjoy my time...with my friend.'_


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Gohan landed with Videl cradled in his arms by the entry nearest the GRs. While descending, he blushed furiously as a thought sprang into his head. _'Could you imagine if anyone saw us right now? I would be taunted relentlessly by Vegeta and Trunks, and mom and Bulma would ask me a million questions about us dating and getting married.'_

He set Videl down on her own two feet quickly, but gently and then he realized he forgot what he was doing with her, too preoccupied thinking of the pretty girl he just carried and had pressed against him for the past few minutes. Videl looked up at him and noticed the fading blush he was fighting, wondering what he was thinking about. Something held her back from asking him though. Instead, she asked him, "So...how does this normally go?"

His mind still thinking about the assumptions that would be made about him and the pretty girl staring at him, started working in overdrive. _'What how should I know? I've never dated anyone! I don't even know anyone who_ has _dated their spouse. Why would she be asking me?'_

He suddenly got very nervous and his movements became very spastic. "What do you mean? I don't know anything about it."

Videl gave him a hard look and enunciated every word she said testily. "What do _you_ mean? I thought you were going to teach me? This is my first time!"

Gohan's face suddenly started to turn purple from the amount of blood running to his head. "Videl it would be my first time too. I can't teach you anything. Besides, I don't think we are there yet! I mean we are only 15 years old! We have all the time in the world."

"Not there yet? Gohan you promised me. I don't want to wait."

"What if something happens? What if you get hurt? What if we create a 'little accident'? I wouldn't want either of us to have to deal with that yet."

"I don't care how dangerous it is, Gohan! I want to learn to fly _now_!"

She shouted the last word at him and he froze. Then it clicked what she was actually talking about and his face drained of all blood. He broke out in a cold sweat realizing his mistake and before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "OH! That's you were talking about!"

"Of course that's what I was talking about," she said in exasperation. Then she started to wonder, "What were _you_ talking about?"

 _'Crap! Why did I have to say that? Why couldn't I have made it seem like I knew what she was talking about all along and I just didn't want her to get hurt training with me! Now she knows I was thinking of something else and I'm sure she noticed I was blushing like crazy! What do I say now?'_

"Um...Nothing. I don't even know. Anyway, let's get your training started." He said, laughing uncomfortably while rubbing the back of his head.

He quickly led the way into one of the least used GRs. It was an older model, only capable of up to 100x Earth's gravity, but it would me more than capable of taxing Videl for the entirety of her training under him. He walked over and began to set it to 2x Earth's gravity and then turned to her before beginning the simulation.

"OK Videl. We are going to try and do the workout we started when Vegeta interrupted us. You seemed to be doing as I expected you to be doing the last time, so we are going to start at that same setting. Let me know if it gets to be too much for you or if you need to stop for any reason."

"OK," was all she said. She suddenly felt very nervous. Especially, after he reminded her of 'Vegeta's interruption'.

"Don't worry Videl. I'm right here if anything happens. We won't be interrupted here because this room doesn't go up high enough for Vegeta anymore. There is also no viewing room here, so you don't have to worry about anyone watching you or making you feel uncomfortable," he said trying to comfort her. "Just think of it as a work out. That's all it is for now."

Videl took a deep breath and did feel better. Gohan had that affect on people. Then something he said came back to her and she asked, "Wait, you said this doesn't go up high enough for Vegeta anymore. How high does he set it?"

Videl hadn't been close enough to the console last time to see what Vegeta was setting it to before things got out of control. "I'm not sure what he sets it to for his normal routine, but I know he can go as high as 1000 without...well without doing the thing with the golden light."

She was quiet for a minute before she hesitantly spoke. "So that makes you stronger then? The light?"

They were into dangerous ground and Gohan was starting to feel uncomfortable. It took him a second before he remembered what Erasa had said about it being OK to not have to tell all of his secrets, but to make sure he didn't lie about it. He at least could still answer this question without there being an issue.

He smirked slightly before answering. "Yeah stronger, faster, and more powerful."

"You'll teach me that too, right?"

"Um, unfortunately, that isn't really something I can teach you. It's a genetic thing."

Videl narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you mean it's a genetic thing? I thought you said you would teach me to do anything you can do?"

"Well I told you I could teach you most of what I can do. Unfortunately, that one thing is not something I can teach anyone. There are only four people in the universe who can do it...and they all live in this building. I promise you Videl, I will teach you to do everything else."

"So why can only the four of you do it?"

"Videl..." Gohan sighed. "...I...I can't tell you that. Not yet anyway. One day, I'll tell you. For now, though, lets just get your training started and we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Please?"

"OK. Fine, but I'll be expecting an explanation."

Gohan exhaled and walked over and turned on the gravity simulation. After giving Videl a minute to get used to the gravity, he took her through some basic solo katas. After she got the flow, he explained that she would be doing this same thing for two hours a day, three days a week. Then three days a week they'd be doing cardio and speed training in the gravity room followed by a day off for recovery. She'd be expected to stretch every morning and every night on her own.

"So I'll be coming here every day after school and on Saturday?"

"That's OK right?"

"When am I going to learn how to fly?"

"Believe me, I'll know when you're ready. It'll take some time though. My dad didn't learn until he had been formally training for ten years or so. It won't take that long, but I just didn't want you to expect it to happen over night. We'll probably be able to start flight training by the time summer starts."

"OK. I was just so excited to fly."

"Well at least you'll be able to fly with me every day. It would take _way_ too long for you to fly here on your own."

"That's true," she said. Then a faint blush formed as she mentally added _,_ _'At least I'll have time to get used to the idea of you carrying me since you'll have to do it twice a day six days a week for months.'_

Gohan snapped her out of her thoughts, "OK, go through it again."

 _'I guess I'd better buckle down and get to work.'_

* * *

Stretch, school, training, stretch, sleep, stretch, school, training and so on. The rest of Videl's school year seemed to blur by impossibly fast. It was all worth it though as she could already see the changes. She was stronger and faster than she had ever been, by far. Not only that, she could also tell her martial arts had improved dramatically. Gohan had even been able to increase the gravity up to 5x Earth's gravity.

Erasa and Sharpner were noticing the differences as well. Videl was more toned which just accentuated her near perfect bodily form. Sharpner was quick to point that out. This, of course, gave him the opportunity to see first hand how much stronger Videl had gotten. Since Gohan had warned her about her increased strength, she held back. Even so, it was still enough to cause Sharpner's arm to go numb for nearly two hours.

"Videl! We are going out this weekend whether you like it or not! It's time for you to take a break from training," Erasa said matter-of-factly three months after starting her training. "Its been forever."

"I don't know..." Videl started looking to Gohan. She was enjoying training with Gohan more than she enjoyed training ever before.

"Videl," Erasa whined.

"Erasa's right. It has been too long," Gohan chimed in. He decided he would give her permission without tipping Sharpner and Erasa off. "You should take some time off to recover. Its never a good idea to push yourself too hard. It can hurt your progress."

"Yeah. Listen to Nerdboy Videl. I'm sure he's read enough books about it," Sharpner added.

"Well OK. What should we do..." Videl said before quickly adding, "... _besides_ the mall?"

Erasa, whose mouth was already opened in the process of saying 'go to the mall', let out a disappointed groan.

"What about a movie?" Sharpner suggested.

"Sure that'll work," Videl said.

Erasa squealed in excitement. "YAY! What about you Gohan? You're coming right?"

"Oh yeah sure. I don't think I've ever been to a movie before."

Gohan's response was met with silence and blank stares.

"What did I say?" Gohan said slowly.

"You've never been to a movie theatre?" Sharpner asked.

"Well no. But that's not that big of a deal right?"

"Gohan, unless you are like a hundred, most people grew up going to movies!" Erasa said. She couldn't wrap her head around the idea that someone her age had never been to the movies.

Gohan rubbed the back of his head and blushed in embarrassment. "Sorry. I didn't know. I have told you that my mom is pretty strict with me right? I've never really watched that much television or anything."

"Looks like its settled. Gohan, you are in for a whole new way to relax and enjoy yourself," Videl said, punctuating her sentence with a punch to his arm. An action Sharpner couldn't help but notice didn't cause Gohan any pain. He also noticed that Gohan and Videl seemed to be a lot more chummy lately.

"What movie did you guys want to see? A love story?" Erasa said, inching her way closer to Gohan.

"Nah. Something good," Sharpner said dismissively before he found something on his phone. With clear signs of excitement on his face he said, "Oh I know! Don't worry about it. I've got the perfect movie."

* * *

Chichi was ecstatic. Despite all of his denials to the contrary, Gohan was going on a double date. Because Gohan refused to admit that it was a double date, she didn't know if it was Videl or Erasa that he was on the date with. But that didn't dampen her spirits or keep her from dressing him up in the clothes he would look the best in. She wanted his first date to go perfectly and wouldn't hear him out when he tried to protest. She even made him wear a sweater, even though it was getting into the warmer months just before summer. That way he would have one to give to his date if the need arose.

Chichi's fussing over him was actually starting to make Gohan nervous. He was pretty sure he was just going to hang out and have fun with his friends, but what did he know. He had only had friends his age for a few months. For all he knew, to go to the movies was some kind of code. When Chichi finished with him and ran off to start dinner for the rest of the family, Bulma came to find Gohan. She was pretty sure Chichi had worked Gohan up for no reason.

She came and knocked on his door frame. She found Gohan sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. "Gohan, honey, are you OK?"

"I think I need to call this off. I don't know anything about 'going to the movies'. I mean, what am I supposed to do there? I don't even know how I am supposed to be on this...movie...date...thing with!"

Bulma couldn't help herself and she chuckled at him. She stopped quickly when he looked at her with a shocked and hurt look. "Gohan you are over thinking this. It's not a date. It's just going to the movies with your friends. Don't worry about it. Just be yourself."

"Yeah but mom said..."

Bulma cut him off, "Gohan, I know that I don't really have that much room to talk since I've always been _the_ Bulma Briefs, but your mom _really_ doesn't have any experience here. She went from being the isolated daughter or a feared and powerful king, to being the even more isolated wife of a powerful, but utterly clueless, martial artist."

She laughed thinking about how ridiculous Chichi could be sometimes. "Honestly Gohan, when has she ever told you about a time when she went out with friends as a young woman. She doesn't have a frame of reference. The only thing she is thinking about, is how to get you fixed up with a wife so she can see her grandchildren before she dies."

Gohan looked at his smiling second mother figure, hoping that the blue haired genius was right. He took a deep breath and exhaled quickly. "Yeah. I guess you are right. I just got so freaked out that there was some insidious underlying meaning to people going to the movies. It's like the first time I heard the phrase 'sleeping with the fishes'."

He smiled at her with humor in his eyes and she laughed hysterically remembering little Gohan saying that he 'wanted to sleep with the fishes' cause he thought 'they were so delicious.'

"Yeah well don't worry about making that kind of mistake again. I've got your back. No one in my family is going to be 'sleeping with the fishes' anytime soon, got it?" She said playfully.

Gohan stood up feeling incredibly relieved Bulma had come to talk to him. He reached over and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Man you are getting big Gohan! Why did you have to keep growing up? I miss that little boy with the dragonball hat. In fact, may you should put that on for the movies tonight. You were just too cute in that little outfit."

Gohan blushed in embarrassment. "If you can find me that outfit and they still fit me without you modifying them, then I'll put them on. For now, I think I'll stick with this."

"Probably a good idea. OK, go have fun sweetie."

"Thanks Bulma!" He said giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and running out of his room and the building before taking off into the sky.

* * *

Gohan was the first one to arrive at the movies. He realized as soon as he got there, though, that he didn't know what they were there to see. Instead he ended up standing out in front pacing back and forth impatiently, waiting for Sharpner to arrive. It wasn't until a quarter after 6 that Sharpner arrived with Erasa in the passenger seat and Videl in the back.

Erasa waved happily when she saw her crush standing in front of the theatre. He blushed slightly at the enthusiastic greeting he received from his friend. Erasa thought, _'He is so_ cute _when he's nervous and all blushy like that. I just want to kiss his adorable face off!'_

After parking, they all walked up to Gohan and gave them the greetings they normally gave him. Sharpner gave Gohan a half hearted wave and a "Sup?"; He was too cool to do anything more than that in a situation like this. Videl would do something violent, but affectionate, like head butt him in the chest or arm; She wanted to show him some affection now that they were friends again, but didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea if she were to hug him or something. And then Erasa actually would hug Gohan, pressing herself into him as hard as she could; She has figured out that no matter what she did or how hard she squeezed him, she couldn't hurt him. It nearly felt like hugging a moving statue that hugged you back.

Her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. _'He is so freaking handsome, incredibly strong, and unbelievably muscular. He still doesn't look at me any different than he does Videl though. I really wish I could get him to like me...or at least to let me see more of that smokin' hot bod again.'_

Videl looked away from her best friend. She wasn't really in the mood to see Erasa act like that with Gohan. Especially, since he hadn't figured out that she even liked him. She turned to Sharpner and said, "So what are we seeing Mr. Secretkeeper."

Everyone turned to Sharpner expectantly and he smiled triumphantly before saying one word, "Paprika."

Videl and Erasa were happy, but Gohan had no clue what that meant. He smiled sheepishly and said, "Um...What?"

"Come on Nerdboy! Put down the books and turn on the TV every once in a while!" Sharpner said before shaking his head at his friend.

"It's a 'found footage' type movie that just came out about aliens. It's all fake anyway, but it's still pretty cool," Videl said.

"No! It's real stuff Videl." Sharpner said indignantly. "Like 10 years ago a city north of the Paprika wasteland was blown up and military lost contact with the units that they had deployed to find out what happened. There was some news crews who made it it up there and got footage of the _real_ story before they were killed too. They just found the footage recently since it was buried under rocks and dirt and stuff."

"If it's so real and it only happened 10 years ago, then how was there so much stuff buried on top of it? Why wouldn't they have just found it when they went back to look for it? It's not like that area gets a lot of earth quakes. And it's too green to get any sandstorms," Videl said in a patronizing voice.

"Because it's part of the conspiracy Videl!" Sharpner shouted.

Videl roller her eyes. "Whatever. It's all fake, but it still looks good. Let's just get inside and get some seats."

Gohan couldn't help but think that this story seemed familiar to him for some reason. "You know. I don't know where, but I think I've heard about this movie before. Maybe I heard someone else at school talking about it or something."

"Don't worry Gohan. You are going to love it. Especially, if you keep your mind open, unlike someone I know," Sharpner said pointedly at Videl. She just laughed and shook her head at him. She wasn't ready to ruin the night by punching Sharpner's lights out just yet.

The got their tickets and Sharpner and Erasa ran in to save them seats, while Gohan and Videl waited in line to get drinks and snacks. While waiting, Videl nudged Gohan with her shoulder and teasingly said, "Just a word to the wise, people are going to get mad if they can't hear the movie over your eating and drinking. I would say lets just get two large pop corns and drinks to share between us. It's a snack, not a meal."

Gohan couldn't keep the hurt puppy look off his face which instantly had Videl laughing at him. "Gohan seriously. It is just a snack and it is only for about 3 hours at most. After that we will go get some actual food, OK?"

"OK...I guess."

She chuckled at him as they arrived up to the counter. Once there, Videl ordered and pulled Gohan away with their acquisitions in hand. "Videl the least you could have done with let me pay for some of it."

"You do know who my dad is right? I am not worried in the least bit about the 30 zeni. Lets just get to our seats before the movie starts," she said pulling him along.

When they find Sharpner, Erasa and the seats they saved, Videl and Gohan filed in. They were in a nearly empty row, in the middle of the row at just the right height. Sharpner was sitting in the furthest spot, Erasa sat next to him and then the two save seats were beyond that. Videl sat down next to Erasa and Gohan took the last seat. They put a soda and popcorn bag between them and handed the other down for Sharpner and Erasa to share.

Once the previews ended and the film began, Gohan figured out why the story seemed so familiar to him. The film started with a blurb about how two aliens had come to earth in their ship. Once they landed they somehow managed to incinerate the entire city once known as Paprika before flying off to battle the planet's last hope. After the words faded out, it showed a reporter and camera man breathing heavily as they climbed a small hill to get a shot of the aliens.

 _"This is it ladies and gentlemen. We don't know what is being said, but it looks like right now the two aliens are facing off against six different people. Charlie see if you can zoom in on that."_

The camera zoomed in and Gohan was able to see that, even though they were actors, he could tell it was Piccolo, Tien, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Krillin and himself on screen. Then another thought hit him and he was suddenly filled with dread. _'Piccolo...I don't want to watch that again.'_

He knew he had some time though before Nappa killed Piccolo, so he wasn't too worried just yet.

Since nothing had really started happening all that much, Videl wasn't really into the movie just yet. She glanced over at Gohan and stopped herself in mid-chew. She could clearly see Gohan's face in the light of the screen, and she was shocked by all the emotions rapidly moving across his features.

She leaned over to him and whispered, "Hey, you OK?"

When he looked back at her he forced himself to look at normal as possible. "Yeah...just really...getting into the movie."

He turned back to the screen and she continued to look at him. _'Is he hiding something from me and lying about it again?'_

She watched the movie with more interest after that, wondering what Gohan was seeing that was making him react that way.

Around 30 minutes into the movie, after the aliens grew more aliens, one of the defenders died and Gohan flinched and looked away from the screen next to Videl. _'Based on what he told him after he rescued me, he has seen a lot of stuff like this in real life. He should not be bothered by these special effects if that was all true.'_

5 minutes later two more of the defenders died. First, the tiny clown looking one blew himself up to kill the big alien. Then the bald three eyed one had his arm ripped off before he died from apparent exhaustion. Each death was punctuated by a flinch from Gohan. 10 minutes later, the news crew was slaughtered, but the camera was left on, aimed at the fight. That was when Videl noticed Gohan starting to get really frigidity and began sweating profusely. Suddenly, the fight started anew on the screen and it wasn't until the green character named Piccolo, was heard shouting _"Gohan"_ , that Videl thought there may be more to this.

Videl looked at Gohan, whose eyes were fixed on the screen and were filling with tears, and then back to the screen again. Piccolo had thrown himself in front of the little boy to block a giant laser blast from hitting him. The actor playing Piccolo screamed in agony as CGI simulated his muscles being torn and his flesh being ripped open. Videl looked back at Gohan was had turned away from the screen and noticed as she leaned forward to see his face, that tears were streaming down from his eyes.

She turned back to the screen as the little boy grabbed on the body that fell in front of him. The boy was shaking the body and saying something over and over again before shouting, _"Piccolo! NO!"_

It was then that Gohan got up out of his seat and practically ran out of the theatre. Videl looked back at Sharpner and Erasa, both of whom gave her a puzzled look, before she ran out after him. She turned a corner and saw an emergency exit door slowly closing. She ran out of the door and found Gohan hunched on the pavement, angrily mumbling to himself. She slowly approached him but stopped when he suddenly punched the pavement beneath him, causing it to indent and send cracks out in all directions.

"Gohan?"

Gohan quickly stood up and wiped his eyes, trying to pretend as if that hadn't just happened. "Oh hey Videl. Sorry about that. I...uh...I just need to get some air. That's all."

Videl hesitantly walked up to him and put her hand on his cheek. She slowly shook her head and gently said, "No. Tell me the truth. What's wrong? I don't like seeing you like this. Did you know those people? Did that actually happen? Were you...were you there for that?"

Gohan closed his eyes and leaned into her soft hand, letting the warmth help him and give him strength. "I was there. I...let Piccolo die because I was too afraid and too weak to do anything about it."

He took a shaky breath in and said, "That should have been me, Videl. Not Piccolo."

He felt her hand leave his face and thought she would be disgusted with him. Instead, he felt her carefully wrap her arms around his waist and hug him tightly. He let it happen and pulled her in closer. They stood there for a moment like that before Videl quietly said, "No it shouldn't have been you. If that had been you, I would never have met you."

She pulled back from him to look at him and he looked down at her before she continued, "And that would not be something I could live with."

She gave him a small smile and he gave her a weak one back. "If you don't want to go back in, we don't have to. We can hang out out here."

"No...It's OK. That was the worst of it," he seemed to steel himself up to go back inside. Then, with his voice dripping with venom, he said, "Nappa dies next. No one else I love will die."

He seemed to be saying the second part to himself mostly. Videl couldn't tell if he was talking what happened ten years ago, or if he was reassuring himself about the future and those he loves now...


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

"What happened in there Gohan?" Erasa asked with concern as she wrapped her arms around Gohan's one arm. The movie had just let out and the group was walking back outside and into the cool night.

"Like I said this was my first movie. I didn't realize it would be so..." Gohan paused, struggling to come up with the correct adjective, "...immersive."

Videl looked at Gohan out of the corner of her eyes. Based on what she had seen from Gohan on a few occasions, and what he told her on the night he saved her, she had already suspected that he might have PTSD. Having worked with the police department for some time, she had seen it before. She knew that a flashback could feel as real as if it were happening all over again. She also knew that little things could trigger an episode. It looked like watching one of the events of his life, even if it was just actor portrayals, had forced him to relive it.

Sharpner's laughter broke the slight tension among them. "Nerdboy, just when I think you can't get any more pathetic, you go and top yourself."

Gohan chuckled and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, turning red from embarrassment. Videl and Erasa didn't think it was quite as funny though. Videl quickly punched Sharpner in the stomach, causing him to keel over as he struggled to get his breath back.

"Sharpner that's not funny! Why do you have to be such a jerk sometimes?" Erasa squealed.

"Don't worry about it guys. I thought it was pretty funny," Gohan said chuckling again as he reached down to help Sharpner up.

"You are too sweet sometimes cutie," Erasa said to Gohan before adding with a look at the still winded Sharpner, "even if some people don't deserve it."

"Man Gohan, with these two around, you'll never have to fight your own battles," Sharpner said after he had recovered.

* * *

"Videl! Enough is enough! Are you going to ask Gohan out or at least admit that you like him?" Erasa asked with her hands on her hips and an unnatural scowl on her face.

It was June and school was a week away from being let out for the summer. On this particular weekend, Erasa was staying over at Videl's house. Hercule was out of town again, and Erasa wanted to spend time relaxing with her best friend.

Videl was also granted the weekend to recover from her training which was still progressing. The weekend before, she had finally been able to push her energy out of her body and form it into a small tangible sphere in her hands. She didn't realize that it would wear her out that much. Seeing how much progress she had made and how hard she had been working, Gohan decided she needed the weekend to herself to rest and recover. She had just finished telling Erasa about something funny Gohan had said earlier in the day when Erasa sprang the question on her.

"Not this again," Videl groaned.

"Fine. If you really don't like him, I'm asking him out on Monday."

"Fine! I don't know what you've been waiting for. I've been telling you for months I don't like him like that," Videl said defiantly even as her brain was screaming denials of everything she just said.

Erasa's mood instantly shifted into giddiness. "Fabulous! It's settled."

"Have fun with that," Videl said, barely containing her bitterness. In an effort to get more comfortable, she turned and punched the couch pillow behind her. Having been more upset than she was letting on, she hit it hard enough to cause it to burst.

As cotton slowly descended around them, Erasa hesitantly looked to her best friend and said, "Videl, are you sure you're OK with this?"

Videl had to take a breath before she responded. She loved Erasa more than anyone except her dad and, no matter how she might have secretly felt about Gohan, she would do anything to make her happy. "It's fine Erasa. Seriously, don't worry about me."

She didn't like all this emotional stuff so she couldn't help but tease Erasa a little bit, so she added, "At least now you'll shut up and stop saying how 'in love with Gohan' I am."

Erasa giggled and said, "Yep! Now you'll just have to hear about how in love with him I am."

Videl rolled her eyes at her best friend _._

* * *

Without training Videl this weekend and not having made any plans with his friends, Gohan decided to spend more time with his family. His mother had been complaining that the only things he did with them were eating and training. On the upside, as a result of his constant training, he was making bigger jumps than ever in his control, power, speed, and technique. They decided they should spend time with the rest of their "family" as well. As a result, Saturday found them on Master Roshi's island. While Gohan spent time training with Krillin, 18 showed off her one year old daughter, Marron, to Bulma and Chichi.

"Wow Krillin! You have gotten incredibly strong in the last few months. What have you been doing?" Gohan asked impressed.

"Hey!" Krillin shouted, offended by the young man's comments. "I've been doing this since before you were even an itch in your daddy's pants!"

Krillin's response had Gohan stop mid punch out of shock and only to get a swift, powerful uppercut from the short fighter. Gohan landed in the water just off the beach. After he pulled himself out on his hands and knees, he looked up at his father's best friend.

"But to answer your question, Gohan, Marron was all the motivation I needed to push myself. The first time she grabbed my figure, I knew I was going to protect her the best that I could. So here we are." He smiled in contentment and offered his hand to Gohan.

Gohan smiled back and said, "Ya know Krillin, I've known you my entire life and I have never seen you this happy."

"Getting married to the most beautiful woman in the world and becoming a parent will do that to you," he said pulling the young fighter to his feet.

"Well just know, I'm not going to let you get any more of those cheap shots in," Gohan said with a sly grin. "I'm not about to let an old man beat me."

Krillin threw a jab at the young man's stomach, only for it to be caught before it even got within a foot of it's target. He laughed at the attempted punch to the gut, but thinking about his stomach reminded him of something else.

"Alright, I'm starving. Let's get some food." Gohan said releasing Krillin's hand and jogging toward the house.

Chuckling, Krillin shook his head while following after him and said, "You Saiyans are all the same."

They ate dinner in the tiny house. Vegeta, Trunks, and Goten joined the group for dinner. The three of them had been serving their punishment earlier in the day. Vegeta had broken another GR and a prank the boys played caused production delays at Capsule Corp. Vegeta's punishment was only minor, he had to train the boys. Trunks and Goten had a much more severe punishment, they had to be trained by Vegeta.

After the feast was done and the adults spent some time talking, the kids drifted off to sleep. Chichi stood, stretched and said, "OK well we'd better get these kids home. I'm sure they are worn out after their punishment today."

Vegeta grunted in response and simply said, "Weaklings."

Bulma looked at Vegeta as he said this and she knew that despite what he said and how he acted, he was proud of Trunks and Goten. She could see the twinkle in his eyes as he looked at the sleeping children. She picked hugged everyone, except Master Roshi, goodbye and picked up Trunks. Chichi was just ahead of her carrying Goten. Vegeta walked out last giving them an over the shoulder wave.

As they stepped outside they spotted Gohan laying in the sand. He had his hands behind his head and was staring up at the stars. _'I miss you dad. Being here with Krillin, I feel like you are just running late and you'll be coming here any second. I really wish you were here now. I wish Goten had at least gotten to meet you before you were taken away from us. You know he calls Vegeta 'dad'. He never got to meet you and...and its all...all my fault.'_

Trying not to wake Goten, Chichi walked closer to Gohan and said, "Hey, it's time to head home."

Gohan jumped and spun to look at her, supporting himself on his hands, "Oh hey mom. Yeah I'll be along in a bit. I just want to stay out here a bit longer. I miss being able to see the stars like we can up in the mountains, you know?"

Chichi looked at him sternly for a second and said, "Don't overstay your welcome here, Gohan. I expect you home soon."

They took off, leaving Gohan on the beach. Just then he didn't feel like sorting through his thoughts any longer. The only thing he felt at that moment was frustration with his mother. _'I don't understand why she has to act that way. Ugh! I might as well just head home.'_

With that he took off at full speed. He intended to get there before the rest of his family. He knew it was very "teenagery" of him, but he just wanted to get home and get in bed without having to see, or deal with, anyone else. He gave the airship his family was on a wide birth, passing them about a quarter of the way there. Once he arrived, he rushed into his room, quickly showered and got in bed.

 _'I'll just spend the day training with Vegeta. It'll help me get my frustration out at least.'_

Gohan got up first thing in the morning and went to the training wing. Before he even got started, Vegeta found him as he was setting up the gravity simulation.

"A little early for you isn't it boy? Or are you finally starting to take your training seriously," Vegeta's snide remark echoed in the chamber.

"Just have some frustrations I need to work out," Gohan said before adding in a taunting tone, "Would you like to help?"

"Did you really even have to ask?" Vegeta smirked. "Frustrated with your harpy mother?"

Gohan tensed and just stood there. After a minute came his one word answer, "Yes."

With that he pushed the button and the increased gravity began weighing down on the two warriors. When the gravity stopped increasing, he transformed; Lightning sparked all around him and his hair spiked further. Vegeta knew that sharing time was over and transformed as well. The next minute they flew at each other with all that they had. The battle began to cause more and more violent tremors in the compound. The training session continued to get worse until an hour and a half later, when Bulma told them they needed to take a mobile GR and train near Mount Paoz until she could get the training wing reinforced.

"I was up stairs sleeping and I wake up to you two fighting it out in here! There are cracks opening in the concrete! I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet!" Bulma shouted at Gohan and Vegeta. "Find somewhere else to train until you two can figure out how to control yourselves a little bit more or until I have time to change the safeguards around the Training Wing!"

With that she disabled all access to the GRs and the console used to control them. Even if they figured out how to get in, they wouldn't be able to control the gravity. Once she was satisfied she marched away.

Gohan was starting to feel better. So as soon as she walked around the nearest corner, Gohan looked at Vegeta and, in a voice heavy with sarcasm, asked, "Shouldn't you have told her that you're the prince of all Saiyans and she can't talk to you that way?"

"I could have stopped her if I wanted to Brat! I just chose not to!" Vegeta shouted at the top of his lungs.

"What did you say Vegeta?!" A distant voice asked.

"Nothing! Just leaving to train now, my queen," Vegeta answered.

Gohan snickered as they moved to leave the compound, mobile GR in hand. "Sorry I got carried away in there, Vegeta. Lately I've just been having trouble keeping myself calm and in control."

"It'll get worse before it gets better. You are getting older and your hormones are having a greater effect on you. No doubt being around that midget yesterday reminded you of Kakarot as well." It wasn't a question. As aloof as Vegeta acted, he was still very observant. You have to be observant to be a good fighter and if Vegeta was anything, he was a good fighter.

"Your father _chose_ not to come back for his own reasons. What he did was not in your control. You need to control _yourself_ and not worry about the 'what if's'. You are a human prince and a Saiyan. As a Saiyan, you are a member of the most power race in the universe. You were born to rule one way or another. If you can't control yourself, no one will look to rely on you for anything. Whether it is friendship as a peer, leadership as a ruler, or **a good workout as a training partner**!"

Gohan laughed out loud as he jumped into the sky with Vegeta. "You're right Vegeta."

"You say that as though I've ever been wrong. Now get your head in the game and let's go finish this _fight_ in _peace_!"

Gohan rolled his eyes at the irony of the second statement and the egotism in the first. Vegeta sped up trying to end the conversation, so Gohan picked up the pace to keep up with his father's former rival, easily catching up to him.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Monday morning Videl laid in bed debating whether or not she wanted to go. _'Erasa is going to ask Gohan out today. Do I really want to be there for that? Maybe she won't do it. Actually, even if she does do it, that just means I'll have to see them together for the rest of the year. Even if it's only a week._ And _Erasa is getting ready in my bathroom right now, so it will be kinda hard to convince I'm sick. Ugh! I might as well just go. I told her it was fine that she goes after Gohan and now I have to live with that decision._

 _'Its not like I care anyway. Now that I know him better, I know Gohan isn't going treat her poorly. He isn't just trying to get into her pants. He isn't after her just for her popularity or to get closer to me. I have no reason to be upset. I am perfectly fine with this entire thing.'_

She got up and quickly got ready. She really did hate it when she had to get ready with Erasa, though. Erasa spent a lot of time getting ready. Her hair was just right, clothes somehow fit her perfectly every day and makeup making her already gorgeous face, somehow prettier. Not that she wore a lot of makeup. On the contrary, she knew everyone could tell when you tried caking makeup on. Instead of that, she just used light makeup to accentuate her features. Erasa always looked so perfect. Then came the part that Videl was dreading the most about getting ready with her friend.

"Videl, you are soooo pretty. Let me put some makeup on you and do your hair a little bit."

"No."

"Please Videl?"

"No."

"You're no fun."

"I know."

Erasa couldn't help herself but she giggled at her friend's morning abrasiveness. She bounced next to her friend and squeezed her tightly from the side. "Ready to go?"

"Last week of school...let's get this over with."

"That's the spirit!"

Videl always felt Erasa was far too happy, bubbly and, most of all, loud in the mornings. Even so, Videl kept her thoughts to her self as they set off together in her jetcopter for school. Erasa babbled about who knows what the entire way, receiving only grunts and loaded silence in response. Once the school came into view, though, Erasa suddenly stopped talking. Videl looked over at her friend and noticed Erasa suddenly looked very nervous and not at all like herself.

"Erasa, is everything alright?"

"I don't know if I can do this," Erasa said staring at the school with her eyes unfocused as Videl landed next to it.

"Do what? School?"

"Ask Gohan. I never thought I'd actually be able to do it. I figured you two would be going out. Now that it's real, I don't know if I can do it."

"Erasa, he's not the first guy you've asked out before."

Erasa spun in her chair and looked at Videl, her eyes wide. "Yeah but this is the first guy I really really like!"

Videl sat there looking at her friend for a second before she turned back to look straight in front of her. She sighed and closed her eyes, resting her forehead on the controls. _'What does she want me to say? She wants me to convince her to go after Gohan now? Ugh! The things I do for her. I can't believe I'm about to do this.'_

Videl started slowly. She didn't move her head or open her eyes as she spoke. "Erasa, Gohan is a great guy. That's why you like him so much, right?"

Videl opened her eyes and looked over at Erasa without taking her head off of the dash. Erasa silently nodded her head. "What would be harder: to see Gohan with someone else or just ask him out and get it over with? He's our friend Erasa. No matter what Gohan will always be our friend."

She picked her head up and turned in her chair to look at her friend better. "Remember what Gohan said when he beat up Jonathan and his group? He said he loved us. Even if he doesn't like you the same way you like him, he will always be there for you."

Videl got up, grabbed her bag, and leapt from the vehicle. She stopped and looked over her shoulder adding, "Nothing bad is going to happen. No one has ever told you 'no' for anything you've asked. Just get it over with. I don't think you'll ever be disappointed by a boy."

She turned back around and walked toward school, a single tear moved quickly down her cheek. Videl reached up and wiped it away. She wouldn't let anyone see her showing any kind of weakness. _'Ugh! What is_ wrong _with me? I don't care if they are together. They are my two best friends! I want them both to be happy.'_

Erasa hopped out and caught up with her friend. As they trudged up the steps to the front door together, Erasa wrapped her arm around Videl and gave her a side hug. "Thank you Videl. What would I do without you?"

"Probably annoy someone else," Videl responded sarcastically.

"But I only want to annoy _you_!"

"Mission accomplished," Videl said with a slight smirk. It was nearly impossible to be upset when Erasa was around.

* * *

School was even more boring than normal. All they were doing in any of their classes, was reviewing and studying for the years final tests. They were expected to be quiet and keep their nose in their books. Because most students wanted to pass their tests, they took it seriously. This meant even the quietest whisper could be heard. As a result, it wasn't until lunch that Erasa got a chance to talk to Gohan. She latched onto his arm before he could make his way out of the classroom and told Videl and Sharpner to go on ahead without them.

"I need to talk to Gohan about something for a minute," Erasa said to her other two friends. "We'll catch up."

Videl stiffened, knowing what was about to happen. She did not want to be around for this. Before she could do or say anything though, Sharpner spoke up. "Is it Math Erasa? I needed help on that too."

"No I don't need help on anything. I just want to talk to Gohan for a minute!" She gave Videl a meaningful look while she said this to try and get her to make Sharpner leave.

"But-" Sharpner started.

"Come on idiot! Let's go get our tree before someone else steals it. At least well be able to shoo away any skanks that might be buzzing around," Videl said while grabbing the back of Sharpner's shirt to pull him along.

Gohan watched them walk away for a second and then turned to Erasa, who still had her hand wrapped around his arm. "So what did you want to talk with me about?"

 _'You can do this. You can do this. You can do this!'_ Erasa thought trying to psyche herself up. She took a deep breath and started slowly. At first she felt like she was rambling a little. "So Gohan, you know how, since you've started coming here, we have been friends? And how we have gotten to know a lot about each other? And we like spending time hanging out together?"

"Yeah," Gohan said somewhat puzzled. There was a moment of silence as Erasa just stood there looking at him. She had no idea where to go from here or what to say. Her mind felt completely blank at that moment.

"Ugh! Why is this so _hard_!" Erasa ran her hands through her short hair and grabbed the back of her neck in frustration.

Gohan didn't like seeing Erasa look so distraught. She was always so happy and bubbly. It didn't seem right. Like watching a kitten cry. He decided to help her out a little bit. He reached up and grabbed her hands and brought them down so that his hands held hers loosely between them. "Erasa. It's me. You can tell me anything, right?"

She looked up at him and stared in his eyes for a second before looking back down again. She took another deep breath and let it out rapidly. "I like you Gohan."

"Thanks Erasa. I like you too. Now what did you want to tell me?" Gohan asked stupidly, not realizing what she meant.

Erasa sighed and thought, _'I should have expected that. I know what he is like about things like this.'_

"No, Gohan. I mean, I _like_ like you. I mean I want us to be together. I know it isn't just a crush either. Since I have met you, I have liked you, but I ignored it for a long time because I thought...Well, it's not important why. It doesn't matter anymore anyway. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to tell you and I was hoping, that, if you want, we could go on a date, type thing. Just you and I, ya know?"

Gohan was shocked to say the least. No one had ever said anything like that to him before. He had been hit on by Angela and others and had learned when he was being hit on. But he never really cared for anyone who said they liked him that way. He just assumed no one he actually knew and liked, would like him that way. As a result, he never thought of Erasa, or anyone, romantically.

Now that Erasa had told him about her feelings, he was forced to look at her differently. He had always known she was a very pretty girl. Right now, with her cheeks rosy pink with blush and an innocent, bashful look in her eyes, she looked even more beautiful than ever. He thought it over for a half of a second, his mind racing. He quickly made a mental list. _'She is one of my best friends and the first friend my age I have ever had. She was the first one to give me a chance here. She is smart, compassionate, and loving. She is the happiest person I have ever met. My family likes her and they get along really well.'_

His line of thinking came to a screeching halt when her realized something. "Um Erasa. I...I don't really know what that means. I have never really been on a date before. I mean, I haven't ever even seen a normal couple dating before. If we were to start dating, what would be different?"

Erasa hadn't expected to have to explain this to Gohan. _'Well at least I know he is taking this seriously. Does this mean he actually likes me too?'_

"Well, we would basically just keep doing what we do now. We would just hang out more and we'd spend time just the two of us," she explained. She decided she would play with him a little bit since the mood seemed so serious. "Basically, we would be trying to figure out if we could tolerate being married to each other. Are you going to be a lazy bum around the house? Are you going to expect me to do all the house work? Am I a slob that leaves her clothes hanging all over the place? That type of thing."

Gohan chuckled at her examples. _'That doesn't sound so bad. But...then again...If the point of this is to see if we would be able to be married, shouldn't we wait until we are a little closer to be old enough to actually get married? What happens if we start dating and it doesn't work out? Are either of us mature enough to just decide that its for the best and not let it ruin our friendship? Also, we are both so young, I am sure we are going to keep changing as we get older. What if one of us decides we don't want to be in a relationship anymore? I could really hurt her._

 _'Even if it does work out, are we supposed to date for years until we are old enough to actually get married? I can't imagine how frustrating that would be for both of us. As much as I love Erasa, I don't want to put her through that. I've hurt and let down enough people. I can't do it again if I can avoid it.'_ Gohan sighed as he came to he decision.

"Erasa, you are one of my very best friends in the whole world. I can't imagine my life without you anymore. I know how hard that must have been for you to tell me how you feel. It means so much to me that you told me too," he paused and thought about the best way to phrase this. Suddenly, he remembered a conversation he once had with his friends and it gave him an idea. "Do you remember months ago when Angela was hitting on me and Videl yelled at her? I asked you guys what I should say to her and you guys said to say that I'm not 'interested in dating or being involved with anyone right now'. Well the truth is, now that I know what dating is, I don't feel like I'm ready to date or get involved with anyone yet.

"I'm not saying I won't ever be, or that you won't be the first girl I call as soon as I am ready. Because you probably will be the first one to know I'm ready," Gohan chuckled at his lame attempt at a joke to lighten the mood before he continued. "But just not yet. I love being your friend and I always will be. I will do everything I can to make you safe and happy, but just as friends for now. At least until we get older. Is that OK?"

Erasa's eyes started to fill with tears and she closed her eyes tightly while looking down and away. After a few heartbeats she let out a watery chuckle.

"One of the reasons I like you is because you are so responsible all the time," she paused and looked up at him with a weak smile, her tears having been pushed back. "How could I be mad at you for being one of the reasons I like you?"

Gohan let go over her hands and pulled her in to give her a hug. She was squeezing him tightly when she felt and heard a familiar angry rumbling sound. The sound made Gohan freeze and she sighed and rolled her eyes before pulling back and looking at him. His face was bright red and one of his hands had reached up to rub the back of his neck.

She let him go and grabbed his hand, pulling him in the direction of their usual lunch spot. "Let's go fill the bottomless pit that is your stomach."

Gohan laughed sheepishly and let himself be pulled along, grabbing his bag off of his chair as they walked out.

* * *

Videl and Sharper sat by their tree, slowly eating their lunches. They didn't want to be totally done with theirs when Erasa and Gohan finally got there.

"Wonder what Erasa is talking to Nerdboy about?" Sharpner asked after about 10 minutes.

"No clue," Videl lied. She really didn't feel like talking about it. It was too bad her mind couldn't be silenced as easily. _'What could they be doing that is taking so long? There is no way Erasa hasn't told him by now. How long does it take to say 'Yes Erasa. I want to go out with you just like every other guy on the planet'? What could they still be doing in there? Ugh! Maybe I don't want to know. The least they could do is text us and tell us they aren't coming out to meet us.'_

Just then Videl spotted Erasa dragging a happy looking Gohan by the hand out towards where she was. Videl could feel pain rip through her chest as she looked at what she assumed was a new happy couple. She wasn't prepared for the severity of it and she dropped her face so she was looking straight down at the food in her lap. She didn't feel like eating another bite. At this point she was struggling to breath the pain was so intense. She didn't want to be there to hear their announcement, but at that moment, she didn't think her legs would work either.

Without looking up she heard them approach and then heard Sharpner say, "It's about time! What have you two been doing?"

"Oh you know the usual," Erasa replied. Videl couldn't be too sure, but Erasa didn't sound as happy as she thought she would. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she thought she was almost detecting a hint of sadness in her voice. After all, Videl had known Erasa for nearly her entire life. She knew Erasa's voice and knew what Erasa would sound like in almost any situation. This was not the voice her best friend would have if she had just gotten the thing she had been wanting.

Meanwhile, Gohan had thrown down his lunch and dug in at his usual pace. Sharpner, still not satisfied with the answer he got, felt the need to make fun of the two of them. "Well whatever it was, it doesn't look like Nerdboy liked it enough for you to keep him from lunch."

"Ha ha," Erasa said dryly.

With Gohan serving as a distraction, Videl hesitantly lifted her eyes up to her best friend. Erasa was picking at Gohan's lunch like she usually did. But something about it seemed off. Almost like Erasa didn't really feel like eating and was eating for something to do to keep herself occupied.

Videl looked back and forth between them for a second which caught Erasa's attention. Videl couldn't help herself and she raised her eyebrow in a silent question at Erasa. Taking a deep breath and then sighing, Erasa gave Videl a sad sort of half smile and a little shrug. Videl's brow furrowed and looked down, not quite understanding. _'Are they_ not _dating? Why would Gohan say no? Everyone is crazy about Erasa. But if he turned her down, why doesn't she seem more upset? Why was she holding his hand earlier?'_

She looked back up at Erasa with her brow still scrunched up. Tipping her head to the side, she shook it a slightly, asking another silent question. Erasa thought for a second and then mouthed the word "later".

Videl nodded her head and picked her lunch back up. The pain she felt before was gone. Instead, she felt only confusion. She couldn't imagine anyone turning Erasa down. She sat there in silence and just thought about what might have happened. She was happy to have that to think about. It kept her from having to think about why it hurt so badly when she saw them and thought they were together.

There was an awkward silence before it was broken even more awkwardly. "So...how about them Titans?"

Simultaneously, three people rolled their eyes and thought the same thing. _'You're an idiot sometimes, Sharpner.'_


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

"What happened Erasa? What did he say?"

This was the first time in their friendship Erasa and Videl had a complete reversal of roles. Videl was dying to get any little bit of information from Erasa about relationship with a boy. Erasa on the other hand was less than anxious to talk about it and relive it. Erasa managed to hold Videl off until they got back to Videl's house.

"He just said he wasn't ready yet."

"But everyone is ready with you! What else did he say? There must have been something?"

"Really there's nothing else. Just that he wasn't ready to date, but he would let me know when he was finally ready."

There was a brief pause in the conversation before Videl said, "Are you OK? I mean, you two seemed fine after you came out for lunch."

Erasa gave a small shrug. "I'm fine. I mean, I would have been great if he said 'yes'. But, I suppose, I feel better knowing that he wasn't turning me down. Just dating in general until he gets older. He said he didn't want to hurt me. And I believe him. At least I know there is still a chance."

"So...yes or no: Do I have to beat him up for you?" Videl asked trying to cheer her best friend up.

Erasa laughed and said, "Not just yet. Now if you see him making out with Angela tomorrow, then you have my full permission."

They both laughed at the thought. They knew Gohan would never treat Erasa that way. Neither of them could think of a scenario where Gohan would sneak around with someone. They weren't even sure he knew what making out was, let alone how to do it.

The laughter subsided after a bit and Videl said, "Well, I'm glad everything is fine between you. I just got used to him being around and I wouldn't want you inviting in some new replacement nerd. For all we know, the next one will run around, pretending to be a superhero, in a helmet and a red cape."

"Not sure we'd ever find someone who can actually _replace_ Gohan _._ Besides Videl, no one is that lame."

* * *

"What's everyone doing with their summer?" Erasa asked after they had left the exam room for the last final of the year.

"My dad is making me get a job. He says I need to learn responsibility," Sharpner said dejectedly. "Between that, chores, and my training, I am barely going to have any time to do much this summer."

"That sucks. Well not only do I have my training, but my dad said he wants to bring me on couple trips this summer. I guess there is this exclusive island resort that wanted one of my dad's dojos there for the guests. Were going for the week for the grand opening." Videl looked at Erasa before continuing, "Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted to come with us. If I'm trapped on an island with no one but my dad, his publicist, and his assistant, I'll go insane. I need you there to help me keep it together."

"Sure! I just need to ask my parents. Just shoot me the dates." Just then, Erasa realized Gohan never said what he was doing over the summer. "What about you cutie? What do you have going on?"

"Well I-"

"Wait wait wait. Let me guess. Studying?" Sharpner interrupted to say.

"Sharpner! Would you shut up! Those jokes aren't funny!" Videl shouted at him. She turned back to Gohan and prompted, "What were you saying Gohan?"

"I have to spend my summer working too, actually," Gohan said rubbing the back of his head. "I was sort of hoping I see you guys this summer, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen."  
"Aww why didn't you tell us? We would have planned a going away party for you. Even if it was just the four of us," Erasa said pouting.

"Sorry Erasa. My mom just told me about it last night."

"Well we could still hang out right?" Videl asked not understanding the problem.

"Not really. I have to move back home for awhile."

"Well that should make it easier since we are closer to the Ox kingdom than we are to West City, right?" Videl asked giving Gohan a very suspicious look.

Gohan reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, sweating slightly. "I have to go live with my...grandpa."

"Your grandpa? As in your grandpa the Ox King?" Videl said glaring.

 _'I knew they were going to make a big deal out of this. I guess it's my own fault for not realizing him being a king was a big deal when I first met them.'_ Gohan sighed. "Yeah. He's getting older and wants to start formally teaching me to run the Kingdom for when he steps down. He wants me to be more involved from now on. So I am really not going to have any time to do anything this summer. I'll be lucky if I am allowed to leave the palace."

"Wait wait wait...so like, you will be _running_ the Ox Kingdom soon?" Sharpner asked bewildered.

"Hopefully not anytime soon," Gohan said morosely.

"'Gohan the Ox King'. No that's too weird. You'll always just be 'Gohan the Nerd' to me," Sharpner said.

"Just like you'll always be 'Sharpner the Jackass' to us," Erasa said in a chipper way.

"Or 'Sharpner the Doesn't Know When To Quit'. Or 'Sharpner the Punchable'," Videl said, punctuating the latter title with a solid jab to Sharpner's shoulder. The hit nearly caused Sharpner to fall over, as he grabbed the spot she struck with his opposite hand. Videl smiled and said, "Yeah that one is _my_ personal favorite."

"Well anyway," Erasa chimed in, "when do you have to leave?"

"I have to be there to get settled in by tomorrow evening."

"Well then that means you are free tonight and tomorrow morning right?" Erasa asked him. He just nodded his head in reply. Erasa turned to Videl, "What do you think Videl? Gohan hasn't been to your house yet. Maybe we could all spend the night. Sort of one 'last hurrah' before we don't see each other for months."

"I don't know. My dad hasn't met Gohan yet. I'm not sure he'd be OK with it." Videl really didn't want her dad doing something stupid and scaring Gohan off from being her friend or training her.

"That's silly Videl. What parent could not love Gohan? It's not like your dad even has anything to worry about with him either anyway," Erasa said convincingly.

"Yeah. I don't even think Nerdboy would even know what to do with a girlfriend if he got one," Sharpner said having recovered.

"OK. Gimme a few minutes to ask." Videl walked away from the group to call her dad who told her it was OK, because he wanted to meet Gohan anyway. Videl found that kind of odd.

"What do you mean? How do you even know Gohan exists?" Videl asked her father.

 _"You talk about him enough. I want to meet this kind you spend all of your time talking about."_

" _What_? When do I ever talk about him?" Videl could tell she was blushing.

 _"Anytime I actually get to sit down and talk to you."_

"Oh..." Videl could feel her face start to heat up even further.

 _"So yes princess. Bring your friends over. I'll have a room made up for the boys to share. I expect you home early enough where I can meet this Goman kid."_

"It's Gohan dad. Please don't embarrass me. Please?"

 _"Of course I won't, sweet pea. I'll see you soon."_

"Yeah. See you soon." Videl hung up and looked at her phone in her hand. _'Do I really talk about Gohan that much at home? How can I talk about him so much and not even realize it? Even my oblivious father noticed it somehow.'_

Deep down Videl knew the reason for that was because people have a tendency to talk about the things they care about; The things that dominate their thoughts the most, are the things people will naturally want to bring up in conversation. The question Videl was asking herself as she meandered over to her friends was, _'Why is Gohan dominating my thoughts?'_

* * *

Everyone raced to their homes to get permission from their parents and then collect the things they would need for the evening and the following morning. Gohan's mother took a little bit of convincing. Neither she, nor Goten, were going with Gohan to stay at the palace over the summer. She knew Gohan would need every bit of his concentration to learn everything he had to learn as quickly as possible. As a result, she wanted him to spend his last night before leaving with his family. She finally relented after Gohan and Bulma reminded her that the entire reason he was at school, was so that he could make friends with people his own age. It just wouldn't do to blow his three best friends off in this way.

He also had to promise and swear on nearly every life that was important to him, that he would not be doing anything inappropriate with anyone. Bulma and Chichi were on the same side on this point. Both of them wanted him to be graduated from high school and any centers of higher learning he planned to attend, before he got married. Then, and only then, did he have their blessing to engage in an act that could lead down a sexual path. This conversation caused Gohan to pray that the earth would swallow him up so that he didn't have to feel the pain of so much blood being forced into his face.

After they finished their rant, Gohan had to bite his tongue from reminding Bulma that she and Vegeta weren't married when Trunks was born. He decided that that wouldn't accomplish anything except to further delay the end of this awkward conversation. Additionally, it would take even longer for him to leave the house altogether. Besides, Bulma was him main support in the house. He didn't want to make her angry with him. Not to mention the fact that he agreed with everything they were saying anyway.

Since he wasn't going to be seeing much of them until just before the start of the new school year, Gohan had to say his goodbyes to his family and, at his insistence, give Vegeta one last spar. Gohan honestly doubted Vegeta would stay away from him for the entire summer, though. In fact, he was pretty sure Vegeta would be showing up with a portable gravity room before the first week was out, insisting that they fight until they couldn't move anymore. Not that he minded. They both needed that to blow off steam. He was certain it would be much worse in the palace where everything was done just so and he wouldn't have his friends for support. The more he thought of it, the more he knew that if Vegeta didn't come to him, he would be calling Vegeta over before too long. Even more so because fighting was built into their DNA as Saiyans.

Therefore, by the time he convinced his mother, packed his stuff for Videl's, fought Vegeta, cleaned himself up, said his goodbyes, peeled Goten and Trunks off of himself so he could leave, flew back to Satan City, landed somewhere out of sight near Videl's house, and walked up to her gate, he was the last one to arrive.

"Sheesh Nerdboy! What took so long?" Sharpner said when he walked by as one of the footmen was letting Gohan in. He glanced at his watch. "It's almost 6! It's been like 7 hours."

"I know. I'm sorry. It took a long time to convince my mom to let me come and then I had a bunch of chores and stuff to do before I could leave."

Videl and Erasa, having heard Sharpner talking to someone, came out of the drawing room. Seeing Gohan, knowing he was about to meet her father, who would no doubt embarrass her, Videl started to blush. _'What is_ wrong _with me today?'_

"Hey Gohan!" Erasa said, happily skipping over to him. "What took so long?"

Gohan smirked a little at her. "You remember what my mom is like right?"

Erasa laughed and said, "Well at least she let you come tonight. Anyway, Videl, come on let's go introduce him to your dad."

Erasa said this like it was a big honor and a historic moment Gohan would remember for the rest of his life. This was an attitude and tone that Sharpner parroted. "Yeah don't make Nerdboy wait any longer. I'm sure he is dying to meet the 'Champ'."

Videl was hoping she could delay it for a little while longer, but it didn't look like Erasa and Sharpner were going to let her. She quietly huffed and looked at Gohan. Oddly enough, she didn't think Gohan looked excited. Instead, Gohan looked like he was dreading the introduction if she was reading his face right. Thinking she was imagining things, she waved him over to walk beside her. Showing the extreme lack of enthusiasm she felt she said, "Come on Gohan. Let's get this over with."

Erasa giggled excitedly and Sharpner rolled his eyes while shaking his head before falling in step behind Gohan and Videl. Neither could comprehend a universe where a person wouldn't be excited and honored to meet 'the Great Hercule Satan'. The two of them were thinking how funny it would be to see Gohan starstruck by Hercule. Videl and Gohan were thinking other things. Simultaneously, they both thought, _'Please don't let this be awkward!'_

Videl led Gohan to a wing of the house that was obviously built and set aside for training. Videl and Gohan stayed quiet the entire time, but Sharpner and Erasa pointed things out different rooms as they passed them. Gohan was surprised to see how big the house was. Just in this wing alone there was an Olympic sized indoor swimming pool, a massage room, sauna, several bathrooms with showers, and the main gymnasium where they were headed.

As they walked into the large room, Gohan looked around to take it all in. There was an area filled with weights and different types of equipment meant for strength training and a large mat surrounded by padded ropes. He immediately decided that a persons training would be very imbalanced and incomplete if they only used what was in this wing of the house. There was no track or equipment that could be used for cardiovascular training with the exception of the pool. No areas which could be used for plyometrics, flexibility training, or even stretching. The entire wing seemed to set up for a body builder rather than a true martial artist. _'Well I shouldn't just assume things. He may do a lot of training outside of the house and only keeps the strength training stuff here.'_

Videl stopped about ten feet from the ring and loudly cleared her throat. Hercule was in the ring sparring with a couple of his students. Before their arrival, Hercule asked one of his servants to notify him when Videl was coming to introduce the new kid to him. That gave him about a minute to get into the ring with a couple of his students and take them down as his daughter and her friends arrived. He was hoping to strike fear into Gohan's heart to make sure he wouldn't try anything with his precious baby girl. Hearing Videl clear her throat, Hercule roar loudly and delivered a few quick combinations to his opponents, knocking them down.

"Well you boys lasted longer than I thought you would against 'the champ'." Hercule said loudly while standing over them. "Keep at it and maybe one day you'll be able to go toe to toe with me."

"Daddy!" Videl hissed. She knew what he was doing and she knew her dad was aware of their presence.

Hercule turned to actually look at the new kid for the first time. _'He doesn't look like much. Skinny little guy. He could stand to put on a few pounds.'_

Then he noticed how close Gohan was standing to Videl and his eyes narrowed further. He walked over to the edge of the mat and hopped down. At 6 feet and 4 inches, he towered over Gohan. Hercule smirked at the height difference.

"Daddy, this is my friend Gohan. Gohan, this is my dad Mark," Videl said much to her father's annoyance. He hated when people used anything other than his stage name.

Gohan tensed and anyone who could sense energy, felt Gohan's shoot up rapidly. The second he laid eyes on Videl's father fighting in the ring, Gohan remembered why Hercule seemed familiar to him when he first saw his picture at the start of the school year. The loud shouting, the showiness of the man, it all came rushing back to him. Gohan did his best to shove down the memories of that day, but flashes of things kept getting through. This was going to be a painful evening for Gohan. Despite that, he reached out to politely shake hands as he had been taught to do his entire life. He had to make a good impression. This was still his best friend's father. He couldn't blame her for who her father was; you can't choose your parents.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Satan." He did his best to sound calm and normal, but Gohan's voice sounded abnormally terse. The only person to pick up on the change in his voice and body language, though, was Videl.

As he looked at his daughter's new friend, Hercule couldn't help but feel there was something about this kid that was rubbing him the wrong way. Maybe it was the fact that Gohan didn't stutter when being introduced to him like everyone else did. Maybe it was the fact that Gohan didn't look scared, awestruck, excited, or even very pleased to be meeting him. Or maybe it was the fact that this kid looked vaguely familiar; like he had seen him once in a dream. Hercule decided to ignore it and shook Gohan's hand, squeezing it a little firmer than was necessary.

The response was, again, not what he expected. Gohan's eyes flashed teal for just a fraction of a second as he squeezed Hercules hand even tighter. Hercules eyes widened infinitesimally and the reason Gohan looked so familiar clicked. Having been at the Cell Games and having seen the terrors that went on there, the faces of those monsters were burned into his memory. Being the good showman that he was, though, Hercule was able to hide the terror that was beginning to overtake him. He pulled his hand back and decided he needed to get away from the kid as quickly as he could.

"I-it-t's good to finally meet you in p-person. Well if y-you'll excus-se me," Hercule managed to say before walking away as quickly as his shaky legs would take him.

"That was weird," Videl mumbled. "He normally has a speech for boys the first time they come over."

"Yeah I wonder what that was about?" Sharpner said.

Gohan sighed heavily and trying to change the subject, as normally as possible he said, "Well that went pretty easily. What should we do now?"

Videl looked at him suspiciously. _'What was that about? Dad has never been that easy on any guy ever!'_

Before she could say anything Erasa chimed in and suggested they watch a movie and order some dinner. Videl agreed and on their way back up to the drawing room thought, _'I have all night to get this out of you Gohan. You won't get away from me.'_

A few hours later, Videl and her guests had finished eating and had finished watching several movies. Erasa had fallen asleep with her head in Videl's lap on the couch while Sharpner was quietly snoring on the floor with his head on a pillow. Still having a lot on his mind, especially after having come face to face with someone so closely associated with one of the worst experiences of his life, Gohan wasn't asleep. He wasn't even feeling remotely tired.

After laying there listening to everyone's even breathing, Gohan got up and wandered out of the back door onto the patio that led up to and surrounded the pool. It was a cool night for being the end of June and it was just what Gohan needed to help him relax. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Laying down in a nearby lounge chair, Gohan looked up at the stars.

Being as lost in his thoughts as he was, Gohan didn't notice someone walk up behind him. It wasn't until Videl sat down in the chair next to him that Gohan realized he wasn't alone. He glanced over at her and she was facing him sitting on the side of the chair, holding her arms to try and keep out the chill.

"What are you thinking about?" Videl asked quietly.

"My dad."

"What was he like?"

Gohan smiled and looked back up at the sky. "He was the greatest. He was always so even tempered. I only ever saw my dad get really mad once in my life."

He paused for a second and turned his head to her with a big smile on his face. "He was always late. No matter what it was, he would always show up just in time. Even if it was a party. I remember this one time, we were at Bulma's for a party and after a few hours it started to die down. Just when everyone was ready to go home, he got there. It was crazy. As soon as he showed up the party seemed to just start all over again."

Videl smiled back at him, her eyes shining in the star light. Hearing Gohan talk about his dad, Videl could tell that he was Gohan's idol. Gohan turned back to look up before he continued. "That's just how he was. He brought people together. He radiated happiness and was always so supportive and encouraging. I wouldn't be who I am today without him. And...and now he's gone. And it's all my fault."

Gohan squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Even so, a few tears escaped, sliding down his face and into his hair. Videl sat there for a moment, not positive what she should do. Seeing Gohan in so much pain, though, Videl's long buried instincts kicked in. She quickly moved over to the lounge chair Gohan was on and, squeezing herself into the chair along side him, pulled him into a hug.

They laid there for a few minutes, Gohan pulling himself together and Videl rubbing his back in a gentle, soothing way. Soon enough, Videl could hear Gohan breathing become soft and even. _'Gohan is such a good guy. I can't believe he could think that his dad's death is his fault. I wonder what he meant by that anyway.'_

Looking down at him something else popped into her head. _'I should get up and move soon. I can't imagine what dad would say if he saw us like this._

 _'Not just yet though. I don't want to wake him and I am just a little too comfortable to care right now.'_ Videl yawn deeply before thinking, _'Just a few more minutes...'_

 ***Author's Note*:** **I don't think this chapter was worth the wait personally. I didn't get to where I wanted to...But I will get there soon. I hope. I'm sorry everyone. Also, thank you all for your reviews. They are encouraging and keep this story on my mind so that I force myself to work on it whenever I have free time.**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

A small tremor shook Videl awake. She was so upset at whatever had brought her out of the most comfortable night of sleep she had ever experienced. She tried to stretch her arms out but something was pinning one of her arms down. Whatever it was started to stir as well. _'That's odd. What could possibly be moving...'_

Suddenly, Videl's tired brain made the connection and her eyes snapped open. She was greeted by a head full of spiky black hair. The head the hair was attached to nuzzled closer to her, inadvertently pushing his head further into her chest. Videl's face lit up like the setting sun. Even so, she had awareness enough not to yell. The last thing she wanted was to have anyone find her like this, especially with Gohan.

"Gohan!" Videl hissed loudly.

"Five more minutes," Gohan mumbled tiredly.

"Gohan, wake up! We have to get inside before my dad kills you!"

Gohan's groggily opened and he looked around. It took him a second, but he also realized the precarious position they were in. He rolled over the armrest, off of the chair, and to his feet. Rubbing his head he looked down at the girl he spent the night snuggled up with.

"I'm so sorry Videl! I didn't mean to. Please don't be mad at me," Gohan begged in earnest.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"For falling asleep like that."

Videl laughed before responding. "Gohan that's not your fault. I was the one that fell asleep in your chair. Don't worry about it."

Gohan took a relaxing breath and smiled at his friend, "Thanks for being there for me last night Videl. I haven't really talked about that with anyone since he died."

"I'll always be here to talk if you need it. I'm just glad no one saw us out here," Videl said glancing back at the house. "I'm sure you wouldn't be standing here if anyone saw us sleeping like that."

"Ugh! I can't believe I did that. I promised my family that I wouldn't do anything inappropriate!"

"Gohan nothing happened. It's not a big deal! Just calm down."

"What's not a big deal?" A new voice asked from the back door.

Gohan and Videl's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and they rapidly looked to where the voice originated. Erasa stood there with her arms crossed and a neutral expression on her face.

"Erasa! I didn't notice you there. Sorry. What time is it?"

"A quarter to eleven," Erasa answered before asking again, "So what's not a big deal?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it," Videl said trying to pass it off.

"Oh," Erasa said nonchalantly. "I thought you were talking about the fact that you two spent the night sleeping in each others arms."

It seemed as though someone had turned off all sound in the back yard. There were no sounds of the pool or the fountains, no sounds of cars going down the street, no sounds of sprinkler systems watering the yards in the neighborhood, or even morning bird songs. The silence following Erasa's statement was deafening.

Erasa just stood near the backdoor of the house staring at her best friend and the boy she loved. Videl and Gohan stood there with their mouths hanging open, stunned into silence.

Videl found her voice first, "Erasa..."

"How could you do this to me Videl?" Erasa interrupted. "I gave you every chance to go after him and you waited until after I told him how I felt!"

"Erasa, nothing happened! I promise you! Gohan was just upset about something and I fell asleep comforting him. That's all. I swear!"

"He seemed fine yesterday." She then turned her attention to Gohan who still hadn't said a word. "What were you so upset about that Videl felt the need to comfort you?"

Even though Gohan wanted to convince Erasa that they didn't do anything, his eyes took on a hardened look when she asked him this. _'Does she really think I would talk about something so personal with her right now with her acting like this?'_

Gohan calmed himself and decided he needed to be understanding. After all, Erasa did just confess her feelings for him and it would seemed to her that he had betrayed her with her best friend just days later. "Erasa, I am really sorry about what it must have looked like. Honestly, though, Videl was just comforting me about my dad and we fell asleep. I promise you, there is nothing going on between Videl and I like that."

Videl felt a pain rip through her chest. She couldn't keep the pain off of her face it hurt so badly. Unfortunately for her, Erasa spotted it. Gohan wasn't done yet though. He moved directly in front of Erasa and put his hands on her arms before continuing.

"Erasa, I promised you that you would be the first one to know when I was ready to date. I won't break that promise. You mean too much to me to hurt you. Please believe me, when I tell you that Videl and I are just friends."

During Gohan's speech Erasa's eyes were glued to her best friend. She watched as Videl flinched as if Gohan's words were causing her physical pain. Erasa believed her friends, but she still wanted to be mad. She especially wanted to stay mad at Videl because it was becoming apparent that Videl wanted there to be more between her and Gohan. She couldn't though. It just wasn't in her personality to stay mad for any extended period of time, particularly at her two best friends.

Erasa took a deep breath and looked back into Gohan's pleading eyes. "I believe you."

With that she took a step forward and hugged Gohan tightly, feeling his gentle arms wrap around her. Without letting go, she started talking again. Her voice came out somewhat muffled as she spoke against Gohan's chest. "Don't worry about telling me when you're ready. I don't want to feel like I'm being strung along, so I'm releasing you from your promise."

Erasa backed away from him and looked into Videl's eyes before looking back at Gohan. Videl's face was only showing confusion at this point. "You are free to like whoever you want. If we end up together, then I will be happy to be with you. If not, I don't want you to feel guilty about liking whoever your going to like."

"Erasa..." Gohan started in protest.

She interrupted him quickly by putting her finger to his lips. "No Gohan. Seriously, it's OK. Everything is fine."

Gohan's pocket took that moment to start ringing. He stood there unsure of whether or not to answer it before it stopped ringing, only to start a second later. Whoever was calling wasn't going to let Gohan ignore them. Deciding he better answer it, he pulled his phone out and noticed it was Bulma.

Videl and Erasa meanwhile engaged in another silent conversation. Videl still didn't understand what just happened, but based on Erasa's face, she wasn't getting any answers anytime soon.

"Hey Bulma. What's up?"

 _"Gohan, you need to come home. Something happened."_ Bulma sounded like she had been crying.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Videl and Erasa turned their attention to Gohan. Even though they couldn't hear what Bulma was saying something, Gohan sounded serious and upset.

 _"Please just come home."_ Bulma sounded like she was about to start crying again.

Hercule chose that moment to step outside. "What's going on out here? Why is everyone outside? Videl, bring everyone inside so I can tell them about the time I beat Cell!"

Hercules presence just added to Gohan's building anxiety. He pressed on with his conversation, doing his best to ignore Videl's dad. "Bulma what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Who's this Bulma he's talking about Videl?" Hercule asked. He didn't seem to realize how much stress he was putting Gohan under. Gohan turned away from the loud man, putting his finger in his ear to better hear Bulma.

 _"Your mom is...there was this explosion and she...she's gone sweetie."_

"Who's he talking to Videl? It's rude to be on the phone around other people!" Hercule was shouting.

Gohan snapped. He had enough of the obnoxious glory hog and he needed to hear what Bulma just said because he couldn't have heard her properly.

Spinning around Gohan's eyes flashed teal and his hair turned gold, without even realizing it. He roared at the top of his lungs at Hercule, " **Shut up**!"

Satisfied with silence, he turned back to his phone conversation. "What did you say Bulma?"

 _"Gohan, your mom is dead. Please hurry home."_

Gohan's hair and eyes faded back to their normal color and he let the phone slide out of his hands. The phone fell to the ground, shattering into pieces on impact. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had to go home and find out the truth for himself. Without regard for who was around or who might see, Gohan exploded into the air at full speed. His takeoff was enough to knock Erasa and a wobbly Hercule off of their feet.

The three of them stood there in shock at Gohan's outburst and sudden escape. Erasa knew Gohan could turn into the golden light based on what Videl said, but it was entirely different actually seeing it. She never thought Gohan could look so terrifying.

Hercule on the other hand had lost control of all of his bodily functions. The front of his pants had started to darken the moment he looked into Gohan's furious teal eyes. He had seen this monster's anger turned on Cell and was terrified that he would be the next victim of this boy his daughter brought to his house. After being knocked off his feet, he decided it was the end and let himself sink into the oblivion of unconsciousness.

Lastly, Videl stood there, looking after Gohan's disappearing trail with concern. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she thought of the pain Gohan must be in. He only ever thought of other people. For him to shout and then take off like that, something awful must have happened. Filled with so much concern for Gohan, something crystallized in her mind. Finally able to admit it, even if it was only to herself, Videl thought, _'Please be safe Gohan. I can't lose you now. I love you...'_

* * *

 _'How could this happen? Mom...I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you. How could I_ let _this happen? First dad, now mom. How useless can a person be. I have all this power and it doesn't do anyone any good!'_

As Capsule Corp. came into view Gohan could see the extent of the damage. The explosion had ripped apart a large chuck of the residential domes and all of the labs in the complex. There were emergency crews everywhere. There were fires here and there that were being hosed down. Gohan noticed what was left of his family standing behind the first responders looking on. He landed without decelerating causing the concrete below him to crack. He had no idea why he was rushing, she was gone already.

"Bulma!" He shouted as he ran up to her.

She turned to him, tears still streaking down her face while she held Goten tightly. She ran over to him and hugged him with her free arm. "Gohan!"

Gohan felt the tears spill over and gripped Bulma and Goten tighter. Trunks came over and hugged Gohan's leg, burying his face in the material of Gohan's pant leg. Vegeta stood separate from the group hug with his arms crossed, staring at the smoking remains of the first place he had begun to think of as home since his planet was destroyed. They all remained in that position for what seemed like forever.

"Don't worry boys," she said in a whisper. "We are going to find all the dragon balls and get them back."

"Them?"

She felt Gohan's grip loosen and she pulled back to look at him. His face was puffy and red. She nodded her head at him. "Yeah."

"What do you mean by 'them'?" He asked again. _'If it was just mom, it would be 'get_ her _back'. Who are the 'them'?'_

"It...wasn't...just..." She burst into tears again, falling against Gohan, unable to finish her sentence.

"Bulma's parents were caught in the blast as well," came Vegeta's monotone response.

Gohan looked down at the only woman still alive that he loved more than himself. _'More blood on my hands. More people I wasn't there to protect. And now Bulma is suffering too because of it.'_

"I am so sorry," he said quietly. He squeezed her tighter.

After another minute, Bulma pulled back again and looked up at the boy she loved as a son. She questioned him with her eyes, asking if he was OK for now. He nodded to her, so she reached over and grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the rubble that once was their home. "Come on. Let's get out of here. We'll go to our house over in Chazke, OK?"

Vegeta turned and walked over to Trunks. "Come boy. You will see your grandparents and the harpy soon enough."

Trunks didn't look up at his father. He didn't want his dad to think he was weak. Instead, he just looked determinedly at the ground and nodded his head. Vegeta felt himself getting soft as he started to feel "feelings". He fought himself for a minute before he finally gave in. He reached down and picked up his son as he followed behind his wife, who was carrying Goten and pulling Gohan along by his hand.

As they started to walk away, a firefighter shouted to them. "Wait! Mr and Mrs Briefs!"

The group turned to the firefighter who was quickly moving towards them with something small and black in his hands. Once he was close enough, they saw what it was. Bulma released Gohan's hand and moved over to the man. When she got within a few feet of the thing in the man's hands, it let out a weak sounding meow.

"Scratch!" Bulma rushed over and took the cat out of the firefighter's hands with her free one. She was so happy to see her father's cat. Seeing him on his own though, just reminded Bulma of why he was no longer perched on her father's shoulder. She started to sob uncontrollably again.

Gohan and Vegeta, carrying Trunks, had joined Bulma by this point. The firefighter looked to them and said, "We found him trapped in a little pocket created by the refrigerator holding up a chunk of the roof. We've cleaned him up a little bit and as best we can tell, he should be fine."

It was silent for a minute before Gohan finally said something to dismiss him. "Thank you sir. We appreciate everything you've done today."

With that they turned to leave again. None of them felt like flying. Actually, none of them felt like doing anything at all. Bulma threw down a capsulized airbus and everyone trudged in. Bulma went to put Goten down so she could get in the pilot seat. Goten was starting to drift off to sleep, exhausted from such an emotionally painful day. Despite the fact that he was barely holding onto consciousness, Goten had an unbreakable grip on Bulma.

Vegeta walked on board and put Trunks in one of the seats. While Bulma was trying to pry Goten off of her body, Vegeta walked up and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her before softly saying, "Leave him. I'll take care of it."

She looked at her husband and mouthed "thank you" before taking a seat with Goten still in her arms. Once she was strapped in they took off. Even though they had the promise of using the dragon balls to revive Chichi and her parents, they were still a subdued group. This was the first time any of the non-fighters of their group had been lost. It somehow made it more real and so much worse.

By the time they approached the sleepy village, Goten and Trunks were both asleep. Gohan and Bulma had been staring out the windows, lost in their own thoughts. "It's been a long time since I've been here."

Bulma looked over at him, he was still staring out his window. It mostly seemed like he was talking to himself, voicing any thought in his head that didn't make him want to fall apart. "It looks different than I remember."

He looked over at Bulma and she nodded. "Yeah. When you told me about what happened to this village after Cell attacked it, I decided I wanted to help revive the town."

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked. There was some curiosity in his voice, but it was nearly flat and dead sounding. Just listening to Gohan sound that way almost made Bulma burst into tears again.

Her voice shook as she explained, "I...I felt horrible for these people. They had nothing after that Borbonne guy extorted them. So I had some of my people come in and figure out the best way to build up the town again. They suggested I help turn it into a ski resort town."

"So I bought a couple of the mountains surrounding the village, a few of the buildings in it, and all of the property that wasn't already owned around the town," she sighed. "I didn't want them to lose their town, or feel like I was pushing them out. So I just keep all of the land around the town empty. I rent all the buildings in the town to locals who opened coffee shops and other little things. Then I built the resorts and ski slopes. It's really turned things around. That's why I built a home here. It's such a pretty place. It doesn't hurt that its really close to Mount Paozu and in the Ox Kingdom. It'll be nice to be so close to you while you are staying with your grandfather."

Gohan gave Bulma a small smile as they touched down outside of Bulma's new home. "You are amazing Bulma."

"Yes she is. Let's get inside and find something to eat. I am sure I'm not the only one who requires food right now. Saiyans do not feel sad, but if we did food would be our comfort." Vegeta cut in. Gohan followed him out, picking up the sleeping Trunks as he walked by. Bulma disembarked carrying Goten and Vegeta capsulized the airbus and led the way into the mansion.

Later that night, after all five of them had eaten and Goten and Trunks had been put to bed. Gohan decided he wanted to get more information on what had happened. He sat down in a chair that was next to the couch Bulma was idly lounging on. "Bulma?"

"Hmm?"

"What happened today?" He was met with a moment of silence before Bulma could respond.

"I don't know Gohan. Right after you left yesterday, Vegeta made a bet with the boys that if they could land a hit on him in the GR he would take them to the park today." She paused, smiling a little at him before continuing in slow choppy sentences. "They managed to do it. I decided to go with them. I asked your mother and my parents if they wanted to go with us. They said no. Your mom and mine had some stuff they wanted to get done around the house. My dad wanted to finish up on a project in the lab. So they stayed behind after we left."

Bulma stopped for a moment, staring at nothing as she went through her memories. A couple of tears leaked out of her eyes as she continued. "We had only been gone fifteen minutes when we felt and heard the explosion. We didn't know what it was and the boys didn't want to stop playing yet. A couple of minutes later, I got a call from the police telling us to come home. Wh...when we got there we could s...see the fires."

Tears had started to stream down her face. She sniffed deeply, cleared her throat, and wiped her face off. She tried to steel herself for the rest of the story. "They...um...they had already found your mom. A section of the roof collapsed on her and..."

Bulma trailed off. She had begun stuttering and shaking uncontrollably. Despite her efforts to keep it together, she began to sob. She bent over to put her face in her hands and cried like she hadn't since Goku died. Gohan got up and sat down next to her. He reached out and put his hand on her back and gently rubbed in circular motions. He had already missed being there for one mother today, he wasn't going to let Bulma down. He was going to be there for her and take care of her.

Eventually she leaned over and fell asleep as well. The gentle sound of her breathing soothed Gohan to sleep next to her not long after. Vegeta came up from his nightly workout to find Bulma asleep, with her head on the armrest of the couch and Scratch curled up in her lap. Gohan was next to her, his head laid back on the top of the back of the couch and his mouth lolled open. _'The boy's neck is going to hurt when he wakes up. Good, it'll give me an advantage when we do our morning training. I'll let him rest for now though. Sleep well...Gohan.'_

* * *

Two weeks later, Gohan had begun his tutelage under his grandfather and his advisers. He was catching on quicker than most had thought he would. The truth was, Gohan was trying to distract him from his mother's death and the fact that they still hadn't been able to find the dragon radar. So he was diving into all of his tasks with both feet. The thing he dreaded the most was free time.

That is the predicament he currently found himself in. Having done so well in his training, he was given the afternoon to himself; an afternoon Vegeta had decided he would be using to train alone. As a result, despite Gohan's attempts to fill his free time with training, his thoughts kept drifting back to his mother.

Bulma was directed towards one of the fields surrounding the palace when she came to see Gohan that day. She found him shadow boxing. Instead of interrupting him, she stopped and leaned against a nearby tree. Sensing her presence he stopped. He knew whatever she had to say was important, but could tell it wasn't good news. If it were, she would have yelled at him to get him to stop. He looked at her and he sadly asked the question he dreaded asking. "Still no luck in finding it?"

Bulma shook her head and a few tears broke free from her eyes. "No. We've looked everywhere. We're nearly done sorting through everything."

She paused and inhaled before letting out a ragged breath. "I don't think we are going to find it Gohan. Without the radar, there is no way we are going to be able to find them all. I'm sorry Gohan. Your mom isn't coming back."

"I know." Gohan sighed. "I know Bulma..."

 **AN: This is the end of this installment. There will be another few stories to follow this one. But for now, I'm going to end this here. The stories will basically follow the school years. So there will be a "book" for each year of high school. Sorry I am going to make you wait even longer to find out what is going to happen with our favorite couple.**

 **Also Chichi is not coming back. No Nemekian dragon balls, no having Mr Popo find them, no having Bulma remember how to build an invention she built over a decade earlier when she was 16. Chichi is gone.**


	25. Story Split

AN: First, I want to say I'm sorry. This is not a new actual chapter. So if you came here expecting more because you got an alert, I'm sorry for getting your hopes up.

Second, I was already on the fence about splitting up the "books" into separate stories. I went with the separate stories for a couple of reasons:

1) I wanted to be able to show that this part of the story is complete by marking it as such.

2) Mentally they are separate for me, so I wanted to be able to separate them further than just a heading at the top of the new chapter.

3) This one is selfish, because they are separate stories, I wanted to post them as such so when my profile was looked at, it wasn't seen as just one story. Instead, there would be a few separate stories published.

However, Jvarkul2002 is right. It is more work for you as the readers. I don't want to do that to you. So what I am going to do is keep this marked as complete for now. Then when I am ready to start writing the next "book" in the story, I'll put it back to in progress and you'll all get updates from here again.

Thank you all for reading my story and for your reviews. I will do my best to get back on with the story as quickly as I can.

\- MostlyEatDeath


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